


The Joy of Youth

by DefinateStorm



Series: The Joy of Youth [1]
Category: BioShock, BioShock Infinite
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family, Family Bonding, Gen, Growing Up, One Big Happy Family, Parenthood, Reluctant parents, Young Elizabeth, competent parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:33:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 50,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25926697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DefinateStorm/pseuds/DefinateStorm
Summary: Rosalind Lutece wakes one day to find Elizabeth has been left on her doorstep. After speaking with Comstock, she agrees to watch over the child for a week. But that week turns into eternity when Comstock refuses to take the child back. With no other options, Rosalind and Robert raise Elizabeth themselves.Robert learns to manage his headaches and Rosalind learns that being a mother is not the worst thing in the world.
Series: The Joy of Youth [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2102274
Comments: 29
Kudos: 43





	1. February 6th, 1894

  
  


February 6th, 1894

  
  


Columbia was a different place in the early morning. Before the sun rose, Rosalind liked to look out the dimmed windows of her bedroom and Marvel at the serenity of it all. Perhaps she was proud of the city that she had raised into the sky.

There were a few people roaming the streets and Rosalind paid them no mind. Hopefully, it would not be too cold and maybe it would be a nice day out. The winters in Columbia were colder than any winter she had ever experienced but it was all a part of being so high in the air. She had spoken with Comstock about creating some sort of shield around the city but she wasn't even sure how that could work.

Despite the cold, she hoped Robert would be well enough to take a stroll through town.

She frowned slightly as she moved away from the window. Robert was not doing as well as she’d hoped he would. He was safe from the grasp of death, for now, but his spells were still occurring regularly. She was never sure what would cause one.

His most recent spell happened while he drank tea. A sudden headache before he grew dizzy. It wasn’t as bad as the first few, but she longed for a day where she could sit with him without worrying about a spell.

Her clock chimed quietly and she sat down on her bed. It would be wise of her to get some rest before the day began. She had much to look over when the morning came but she found herself restless. It seemed as though she should have been doing something with all of her free time.

Robert had now been in Columbia for 8 months and while his dissonance worried her slightly, it was everything that she had thought it would be. Robert understood everything she said to him. He was neither intimidated nor angered by her brilliance and he was the only one who could match her wit at all.

He was playful, more so than she ever had been. She hadn’t expected that but it was not a bad trait. His differences intrigued her to no end. The small differences in childhood tales made her curious and although he was still separating his memory from hers, she looked forward to long talks about it in the future.

It was good, she thought, that Robert was not her exact copy.

Rosalind went to her closet and wondered briefly of what it would have been like if she'd met another Rosalind instead of a Robert. If the woman on the other side of the atom had struggled to procure funding as Robert had. Would she have brought that woman to her world? Would she even feel the same connection? Perhaps this other version of her would be jealous, perhaps she would be proud. She still was not sure how every version of herself lived and perhaps they could study that more when Robert was better.

A loud knock brought her out of her thoughts. Who would visit at this hour?

Setting her chosen dress down on her bed, she went back to the window. There was no carriage visible through the fog but she could see a few people rushing about, perhaps trying to get to work before they were late. She stepped away from the window slowly made her way down the stairs. Whoever it was had better have a good reason for bothering her so early.

She put her hand on the doorknob but paused once she remembered that she was not dressed. Perhaps that would convince whoever it was to come back at a reasonable hour.

She opened the door leading to the lobby and frowned. The front door was wide open but there was no one in sight.

She frowned as she looked into the distance. Perhaps a few unruly kids playing a game. How annoying. Rosalind stepped forward to close the door. As she stepped forward, she noticed a baby in front of the desk.

Rosalind quickly closed the door before kneeling down in front of the child. The girl clutched her blanket tightly and sniffled. "What..." she recognized the baby immediately. The child they had purchased almost a year ago.

Rosalind hadn’t bothered to check on the child at all after they brought her over. Robert's sudden hemorrhaging had been more important. Comstock had introduced her to the town before he had even told his wife of her existence and after that, no one had seen her.

But this was the same child, Rosalind was sure of it. She had grown a few inches and her hair was slightly longer but that was it. This was the same child.

“Mmmm.” Elizabeth poked her lip out and Rosalind sighed. How long would Elizabeth have sat quietly if she hadn’t been awake to hear the knocking? They’d left the lobby door open, the child could have crawled right out and off the edge of the city.

Elizabeth held out her arms and made grabbing motions with her hands. Rosalind picked her up quickly, “No crying, do you understand?” she didn’t want to wake Robert, not yet.

How was she supposed to go about this? She needed to get the child back to Comstock and she did not want to wait until he figured out that she was gone. She also didn’t want to be seen out in town with the child. People would ask questions and she was terrible at lying on spot.

Had Lady Comstock dumped the child here herself? Or had she gotten a servant to do the deed for her? It was a long journey from Comstock house to Emporia, and for what? Rosalind would just bring the child back. Maybe if she left now she might be able to do it before too many people set out for work.

Elizabeth was freezing and Rosalind could tell by her breathing that she was ready to cry. Why had she been left out so carelessly? If Lady Comstock left her there, why had she not given the child so much as a dress to wear? Was she that hateful of the child?

She could see Elizabeth's eyes watering and the quiet whimpers grew longer and louder. "Please, don't do that." she whispered. She was unsure of how she should comfort the child.

"Who was it?" she jumped and turned to see Robert coming down the stairs. He blinked as he saw the baby in her arms. "Is that..." he didn't finish.

"She was in the lobby." Rosalind explained, "Someone rang the door and left her there." Robert looked beside her before stepping out into the lobby again. She was sure that whoever left her was long gone and with the fog, she wouldn't know if anyone was still there anyway.

She heard him lock the door before coming back and looking at her anxiously, "How long before he notices her absence?" he asked.

"Who knows." Rosalind responded. She walked over to the sofa and set the girl down. She looked unhappy but she didn't cry. "I think I should take her back." She would not wait for him to come to her, they could end up watching the child for days.

"You can't take her back like _that_." Robert said.

"Why not? She arrived this way." Rosalind said.

"Rosalind she'll freeze out there. She's cold enough as it is." Robert rubbed his temples and walked over to Elizabeth, "Is this the only thing she had?" he asked

"Yes." Rosalind watched Elizabeth as she shivered on the couch. The blanket was not big enough to cover her entire body. Elizabeth noticed them watching and raised her arms again. "I'm not going to pick you up." she sighed. But then she started whining again and then those whines turned into full-blown wailing. Robert picked her up but her wailing didn't stop.

"Rosalind.” he looked to her

"What?"

"Do something?" he said desperately. Rosalind looked at the wailing baby and shoo her head.

"Like what?" she asked.

"I don't know, make her stop." Robert said. He attempted to rock the baby and Rosalind sighed.

"You're shaking her too much." she said. She took Elizabeth from him and gently rocked her. Elizabeth's wailing quieted down and Rosalind kept it up until she stopped, "If we can't take her back, then I'll go see him myself."

"Alright." Robert agreed.

She attempted to hand the child back to Robert but she resumed her wailing as soon as he touched her. Robert withdrew his hands quickly, “She doesn’t like me.” he said.

“She doesn’t like either of us.” she sighed. She would have to get Elizabeth to calm down before she left. Robert was still sensitive and Elizabeth’s wailing would give him a headache. “Once I get her to sleep, I'm going to go straight there.” And she would make both Comstock and his wife take the child back.


	2. February 6th, 1894

Robert watched as Rosalind held Elizabeth. She looked at him for an answer but he couldn't give her one. What was it that they were supposed to do? "She's still crying." he found himself saying.

"Yes, I know." Rosalind sighed. She bounced Elizabeth slightly and frowned deeply. He had no experience with children but holding Elizabeth was the reason she was crying.

Rosalind shushed the baby several times before Elizabeth finally calmed down. The child curled up in Rosalind's arms and continued to sniffle. "She really just left her out in the cold." Rosalind said, "It's freezing out there!"

"Do you think it was Lady Comstock who did so?" Robert asked. The woman had come to their home and shouted at Rosalind just the day before. Robert had heard it from his bedroom on the 3rd floor and hadn't had the strength to get out of bed. "Or perhaps she sent one of her servants."

"I saw no one. The fog was too thick." Rosalind looked down at the baby but her face held no emotion. For the first time, Robert wondered what she was thinking.

They stood silently and the only sound in the mansion was the gentle hum of the contraption and Elizabeth's occasional sniffling. "Can you start a fire?" Rosalind asked. The house was chilly and he was used to the early morning chill. He made his way to the fire, he remembered that Elizabeth had been out in the cold with just a diaper.

"She must be freezing..." he said as he worked on the fire. He found himself getting angry. He could remember holding the child in his arms before crossing over. She had been light and small then, wrapped in musty blankets. The smell of alcohol had been strong on her. It was as if Booker had spilled some on her and didn't care to change her.

He looked back on his thoughts then. He'd assumed that the child would have been better off with Comstock. The man had money and goals but apparently that meant nothing if his wife wasn't willing to care for the child.

Rosalind knelt down in front of the fire and looked at him, "I'll put her to sleep in my bed." she said softly, "You should rest."

"I'm fine." he said. Rosalind's concern for him had not dulled in the months that he'd lived with her. Though his hemorrhaging and dissonance were finally over, his headaches and nosebleeds still caused her distress. "I'll sleep once she does."

He looked to Elizabeth and was pleased to see her eyes slowly closing and opening. The dancing flames must have been hypnotizing enough to put her to sleep. That and Rosalind's gentle rocking.

Robert left her alone in the drawing-room and headed to his room. He was sure he had an extra blanket somewhere. He opened the closet and looked through finding a small blanket under all of the things he'd stuffed through. He returned to Rosalind and gave her the blanket.

"Thank you." Rosalind wrapped Elizabeth quickly and he suddenly wondered if she'd had experience with children. He didn't want to poke through her memories for the answer. Perhaps he could ask her once Elizabeth was gone. "Hold her for a moment."

"She'll cry again." he said.

"She won't." Rosalind seemed so sure of herself that he didn't question her at all. He just took the baby and held her close. She was shivering still despite the fire and the blanket and he found that his anger was returning at the injustice. Elizabeth didn't deserve any of this.

Elizabeth yawned in his arms and whimpered again but didn't cry. She instead closed her eyes and let out a breath. Perhaps she was finally calming down.

She was heavier now, a good sign considering how small and fragile she had been when the crossed over. He was thankful that despite her finger being severed, she'd suffered none of the ill effects that he had. At least that was what Rosalind had told him. He had been too sick to check on her. Perhaps it was his fault that he assumed Elizabeth would be okay in the hands of Comstock.

"Alright, I'll put her in my room." Rosalind took the child and he followed her up the steps. Elizabeth rested easily in Rosalind's arms and was asleep once the reached her room. Rosalind arranged her pillows in a circle and she placed Elizabeth in the center of them. Elizabeth woke briefly but one soft whisper from Rosalind was enough to lull her into sleep again. "It's so she doesn't roll off of the bed." Rosalind explained, "She should be 14 months now and I'm unsure of her sleeping patterns."

"Right." he hadn't thought about that at all.

"Rest, please." she said, "I'll get ready to go." He wanted to go with her, but he knew that they couldn't bring Elizabeth out again. Not in the cold like this. And the number of stares they would get for having an unclothed child out like this would fuel rumors for days.

"What if she wakes while you're gone?" he asked.

"I don't expect to be gone that long." she said, "But if she does... Give her warm milk. Not too much, half a cup. If we have any give her some bread as well. That should keep her satisfied for a while."

"And if it doesn't?" he didn't mean to sound so apprehensive but he didn't want Elizabeth to cry again, he wouldn't know what to do.

"Try fruit." Rosalind said, "We have a few bananas and apples. Give her banana but slice it first." Robert nodded and watched as Rosalind started to fix her hair. "Get some rest." she said.

"alright." he cast one more glance at Elizabeth before going back to his own room. He was sure he wouldn't get any rest now. His mind was too busy now that Elizabeth had been dropped on their stoop. This was the time he usually woke anyway, but he got back into bed only because Rosalind had asked him to.

He closed his eyes but didn't sleep. Instead, he listened to Rosalind as she moved about her room across the hall. "I'm leaving now." she said as she passed his room, "I won't be long." Although one could never be sure how long a meeting with Comstock would last, he was optimistic.

"I'll be here." he opened his eyes and gave her a light smile. She returned it before leaving him alone to rest. He sighed and closed his eyes again. He needed to rest as much as possible before Elizabeth woke again.

He managed to sleep an hour before he woke again. He felt slightly better but the reminder that Elizabeth was asleep across the hall put him on edge. How was Rosalind's meeting with Comstock going?

Robert got out of bed and shivered as he feet touched the cold floor. He still wasn't used to the harsh chill of Columbia. He walked across the hall quietly and peaked at Elizabeth. She had sprawled out now and the blanket was bunch over her stomach. It was clear to him now how different she looked, now that she wasn't curled tightly in a ball.

Her hair was longer now and shinier too. He wasn't sure if it was the lack of food or maybe the filth in her home that had dulled the shine, but it looked nice now. She was plump too. Her cheekbones were no longer visible under a layer of fat. She had been eating well enough with Comstock. Perhaps she only lacked an emotional connection with her supposed mother.

He entered the room and spread the blanket over her completely. It was still cold in Rosalind's room and he didn't want her uncomfortable when she awoke. His actions caused her to breathe in and kick her feet before she rolled onto her side and continued sleeping.

Robert let out a breath and left the room. He would shower and get ready for the day and hopefully, Rosalind would have returned by then.

He showered and shaved quickly, choosing to dress down for the day, he would not be going out. He was still combing his hair when he heard Elizabeth crying. "Oh no..." he found himself saying as he abandoned the mirror and went to Rosalind's room. He found himself peaking around the doorway, hoping that she wouldn't see him and perhaps go back to sleep.

The moment his eyes met hers she stopped crying. Her face displayed nothing but confusion at her new surroundings but she still slowly raised her arms anyway. He walked over and picked her up, "Are you hungry?" he asked.

She only stared at him with the scrutiny he had not expected from a child. What was she thinking? Did she perhaps remember him from that fateful night? She had only been 8 months then but he could still remember how she had grabbed his tie as they walked down the alleyway.

"I'll make milk." he said. Rosalind had said to make warm milk and give her bread.

He entered the kitchen and attempted to put her down but her immediate wailing caused him to pick her up immediately. She calmed again and leaned against his shoulder. "I don't believe I can prepare your food while holding you." he said with a sigh.

His first attempt had ended in a mess. Elizabeth had grabbed for the glass right as he began pouring and spilled it over the countertop. The second time he placed a small pot on the stove and turned on the fire. He held the milk at a distance as he poured and was very successful. He smiled triumphantly but his smile fell when he looked at Elizabeth. She was watching the milk intently, was she that hungry?

He let the milk warm while he searched for bread. The bread Rosalind had purchased the day before was still soft enough. "I'm going to put you down." he said softly. He would not attempt to cut bread while holding Elizabeth. He put her down in the chair and rushed back to the bread as she began to cry again. "I'm getting you food." he said.

He sliced the bread and gave her a slice. She grabbed it quickly and attempted to force the entire slice into her mouth. "Not so much." he pulled her hands away from her mouth and was surprised at her strength. He was still much stronger but he didn't think he'd have to use any force to get her to stop stuffing her mouth. "Small bites, please." he ripped the bread into small pieces and handed them to her one by one.

He set the remaining pieces on the table before rushing back to transfer the milk from the pot to a cup. It was hotter than he'd wanted it but he could let it cool while she ate the bread. "We'll finish this first." he set the milk on the table and pulled a stool from the island. He then pulled Elizabeth into his lap. He continued to feed her the bread until it was gone. Her eyes were still on the glass of milk and he relented. He took a sip himself found himself chuckling when Elizabeth protested at the action.

He was satisfied with the temperature and slowly tipped the cup into her mouth. She grabbed onto his hand as if worried that he might take it away before she was done. She drank hungrily, taking no time to breathe until she absolutely had to. By then, half of the cup had spilled down the sides of her mouth and onto her stomach.

When she finally finished he set the cup on the table again. "Better?" he asked. She didn't respond and he stood, "Let's get you clean then." he wasn't sure why he felt the need to explain every action to her. She most likely didn't understand a word he was saying.

Still, he went to the sink and began to wipe the milk from her body. The clock chimed and he looked up. Rosalind was still not back yet... What was he supposed to do with her now? She babbled to him and waited and he cleared his throat. She had asked him a question it seemed but he didn't know the answer.

"How about we have a seat in the drawing-room?" he suggested. He set her down and was pleased to see that she did not cry. Instead, she watched him as he picked up the fire poker and stoked the dying flames.

He turned in time to see that Elizabeth had crawled away and towards the contraption. "Hey!" he said, perhaps louder than he meant to. She paused, looking back at him before continuing.

He walked over and picked her up again, "Stay away from that." he said. the machine was not on and would not spontaneously spring to life, but he didn't want her touching the many wires strewn about. the contraption was so hastily put together to serve their needs, he hadn't thought of how much of a danger it looked until then.

Sharp corners and large tubing everywhere. It was not made to look pretty, he knew that. But each and every wire seemed to draw the child's attention and he would hate for her to rip one out of place. "Let's stay in the drawing-room."

Elizabeth was calm as he placed her on the floor before she rushed away. he hadn't realized how fast babies could crawl until he had to chase after one. She was fast, trying her hardest to examine every feature of this new space before he scooped her up and took her back to the drawing-room. She protested loudly but thankfully, she didn't cry. She only stared up at him in anger.

He sat down on the couch, suddenly aware of the slight pounding in his head. Most spells began with a throbbing behind his left eye and spread through his entire body like a wave. He was slightly pleased to know that this was just a normal headache. He leaned back into the cushions and watched as Elizabeth struggled to stand, using the couch as leverage.

She did manage to pull herself into a standing position, but it seemed that she was unsure of what to do next. Her eyes traveled to him on the couch before she began attempting to pull herself up. He watched the struggle before reaching out to help her up. She grabbed his hand and moved next to him. She then sat and looked around triumphantly.

Robert smiled, he supposed this was a big achievement for her. She laid back and began to examine her feet heavily as if she had just discovered their existence. He allowed himself to relax, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples.

The headache was getting worse, perhaps he needed to eat? He usually had a cup of tea by now, surely that wasn't causing his headache. Still, with Elizabeth occupied by her own feet, he went to the kitchen to put a kettle on the fire.

He had only just placed the water in the kettle when he heard a loud thud. There was a moment of silence before Elizabeth began wailing. He rushed back to the drawing-room and saw she had fallen from the sofa.

She sat up holding her head and wailing until her face was red, stopping only to take a breath before continuing. "Hey hey..." he picked her up, bouncing her lightly as Rosalind had before, "It's okay."

He remembered Rosalind had held her close and whispered to her and that had calmed her yet when he tried, she only stiffened and wailed more.

Robert found himself walking in circles and whispering, "It's okay." over and over before she finally calmed down and stopped wailing. He looked down at her head and saw the small red bump through her hair. Maybe he shouldn't have left her alone. He thought back to how Rosalind had surrounded her with a wall of pillows to prevent such a thing from occurring. "I'm sorry." he said.

She said something that came across as, "Buhbuhbuh." before settling against his chest again. She began picking at the buttons on his shirt and he returned to the kitchen, placing the kettle on the fire. He felt proud as he managed to prepare himself tea all while holding Elizabeth. He took a sip, sighing as the warmth went through him.

His headache still pounded and had only gotten worse when Elizabeth cried. Still, he wasn't experiencing anything else so he ignored it. He looked to the clock as it chimed again. Another hour and Rosalind was still gone.

She never usually left him alone and even then, it had never been for this long. He wondered how the meeting with Comstock was going. Was he even listening to her? Was Lady Comstock shouting abuse at her? He knew his sister could handle whatever the woman threw at her but he still hated for it to happen.

He finished his tea and sighed, "How about some music?" he suggested to Elizabeth. She looked up at him briefly before looking back to his buttons.

Robert took her to the 3rd floor anyway. He made sure to stop by Rosalind's room and grab her blanket before setting her down on the couch there. "Please, don't move." he said. His headache was becoming overwhelming now. He wanted to shut his eyes and lay in bed but Elizabeth would get hurt or into something.

Elizabeth stayed wrapped in the blanket as he started another fire in the fireplace. When that was done, he went to the gramophone and selected a record. He chose blindly and let it play. The gramophone was silent before a steady stream of music began to play.

Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297. "Winter." he said to Elizabeth, "Very fitting, don't you think?" The music was faster then what he preferred but he recalled Rosalind saying it helped her think faster when she listened to it. Still, the music had eased his headache quite a bit already. He still felt pain, but it was manageable now.

He went to join Elizabeth on the couch and sighed. He needed Rosalind to come back as soon as possible. If only so he could rest without worry that Elizabeth would fall again.

As he sat he grew worried. What if they didn't take her back? What were they supposed to do with her? Send her back to her real father? A frown tugged at his lips, it would be the right thing to do... but Booker was not a good father. Not from what he'd seen.

Elizabeth had crawled over to him carefully and worked her way onto his lap. He allowed her to get comfortable and wrapped his arms around her. She would not fall so long as he sat like this. He closed his eyes and sighed. Hopefully, Rosalind would be back soon.

  
  



	3. February 6th, 1984

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

She found them in the study with the gramophone playing nothing but silence. Robert dozed with his hands wrapped tightly around Elizabeth.

"Robert," she called softly as she lifted the needle. He shifted slightly, his eyes opening slightly, "Are you having a spell?" her voice was laced with concern. She had left him alone with Elizabeth for almost 4 hours.

"Just a headache." he responded, "The music helped."

She went over and picked up Elizabeth, she had fallen asleep in his lap and she adjusted herself to her new position easily. "I'll put her in my room," she said. She was not sure how to break the news to him. Elizabeth had quite obviously taken all his energy and he would not be happy to know that she would be staying for an entire week.

Rosalind set the child down in her bed again and draped the blanket over her. She glanced down with a frown at the small bag she had been given by Comstock. "When is he coming to get her?" Robert stood sleepily at her door. She turned slowly and met his eyes. She suddenly felt like a child again and Robert was her father asking about her misbehavior during lessons.

It occurred to her that he might have already known the answer but she still took a breath, composing herself as normal. "She'll be staying for the week," she said quickly.

"A week..."

"We shall be heavily compensated for our troubles." Rosalind continued, "But our dear Lady Comstock is feeling stressed and needs time..."

"Time for what?" Robert asked. She didn't answer him, she felt somehow as if she had let him down. This was not what either of them had wanted, but she found that arguing with Comstock was useless. He had already made up his mind before Rosalind had arrived.

"They gave me her clothing, diapers, and blankets." Rosalind pointed. She felt Robert hand on her back and she finally looked up at him again.

"A week it is then..." he said. He was tired, she could see that. He had been alone with Elizabeth and she knew he had no experience with children.

"She's asleep," Rosalind said with a sigh, "Have you eaten?"

"I had tea," he said. He looked at Elizabeth as if he was reluctant to leave her alone.

"She'll be fine." Rosalind said, "Let's go." He nodded and followed her down to the kitchen. Rosalind frowned at the mess. Bread on the floor and milk on the countertops.

"I'm sorry." Robert moved by her and began picking up the bread, "She's a messy eater." Rosalind moved to clean the milk from the countertop. She was unsure of how they were supposed to manage the week. they had no food for her, milk and bread may have been acceptable for now but that would not be enough. What had they been feeding her at Comstock House? Surely Lady Comstock was not breastfeeding her.

They would have to go to the store, she was sure there would be something there. "Are you in the mood to eat?" she asked. His stomach growled loudly and they shared a smile. "Unfortunately, I haven't been to the store recently. We've only bread and jam to eat," she said.

"I'll make it, you can make the tea," he said. She nodded and finished cleaning the milk before finding the kettle. He had boiled some water before but it looked as if most of it had been spilled. "I tried to make a cup of tea while holding her."

Rosalind listened as he recounted the events with Elizabeth. Her constant crying and moving would have been enough to drive Rosalind to the edge but Robert had come out just as sane as he had always been. "And she fell off the sofa," he added hastily at the end.

"She fell?" Rosalind looked to him finally.

"I thought she would be okay." he admitted, "I left her for a moment and she must have rolled off." She could see the guilt in his eyes. Rosalind knew from experience not to leave babies alone at a certain age. Elizabeth would be becoming more and more mobile as she grew and now was one of those times. Her circle of pillows would keep her safe only while sleeping. If she awoke and thought to explore, she would likely fall.

"She seems okay now," Rosalind said.

"There's a bump on her head." Robert said, "I think it hurt." Rosalind nodded and retrieved the dishes for their meal. This was another difference between them. It wasn't surprising to her. Her mother had made her assist in caring for her cousins over the summer. She remembered hating the time spent changing diapers and holding children.

Her mother had told her it would make it all the easier for when she had children. Rosalind had loudly proclaimed that she would not be having children and that the family name would die with her before she allowed herself to be forced into a relationship.

It had been a foolish thought then. Though even now she had no desire to start a family, she was certain her mother had been angry for days after.

"How do you feel?" Rosalind asked

"Just fine." Robert sat at the stool and spread the jam over his toast. "My headache is almost gone now." She set the kettle down in front of him and sat across the island.

"Not too tired?" she asked.

"No." he shook his head.

"Then shall we discuss things in the music room?" she had already begun setting things on a tray. Robert nodded and stood. He took the tray from her and led the way upstairs. She cast a glance at the sleeping child as they passed her room. Robert set the tray on the small table in front of the sofa and sat down. He sank into the cushions and sighed.

Despite what he had said, he looked to be the picture of exhaustion. She sat down beside him, grabbing a pillow and holding it close. "Lady Comstock is pregnant," she said finally.

"What?" Robert sputtered.

It had been a shock to Rosalind as well. She had been sure of her theory that Comstock himself was sterile. The machine had aged him so much in so little time, what else could have been the reason for his struggles to produce a child?

"He isn't sterile then?" Robert asked.

"He might be." she bit her lip and picked up her tea.

"Do you think that Lady Comstock found someone else to get her pregnant?" Robert asked.

"I'm not against the theory," she admitted. She was aware that she might have been wrong. Not every theory she had was correct, it was a part of life. But Comstock was an anomaly. He had decayed quickly in just 2 years and she had seen Comstock in a different world. Versions that still looked much like Booker Dewitt did. She would never have a solid answer until she examined more than just her world's version of Comstock.

"I'm sure then, that it's crossed your mind that Comstock might not take her back at all," Robert said. She nodded slowly, sipping her tea and avoiding his gaze. She recalled how she had convinced him to ask Booker for the child in the first place.

Robert had been against it and she had told him that the only way for them to meet was for them to assure Comstock's legacy. Robert had been easily swayed after seeing how the child was living but she could imagine he was angry now. Comstock would most likely ignore in favor of this new child. His actual child.

And what would become of Elizabeth then? She could not stay with them. Rosalind would not be a mother and nor would Robert be a father. They had work to do and she would only get in the way. Robert's tales of chasing her about the 1st floor was proof enough.

"The doctors say she needs a stress free environment." Rosalind said, "Lady Comstock, I mean."

"I can't imagine being with Elizabeth is that stressful." Robert snorted, "Not when they've got maids and servants to keep her busy."

Rosalind was certain that lady Comstock had played no part in Elizabeth's care for the past 8 months. Even their public outings, though there had been few, were spent with Elizabeth in Comstock's arms.

She heard Elizabeth and sighed, "I'll get her." Rosalind said.

Robert nodded and stayed put while Rosalind retrieved Elizabeth. She wrinkled her nose at the smell. She had soiled her diaper in her sleep. She needed a bath and a diaper change. Rosalind took her back to the music room, "I'll give her a bath. She smells terrible." she said.

Robert looked over and nodded, "Do you need help?" he asked.

"No, just rest," she said. She said it to him a lot and she hoped it didn't make him feel invalid. He was still capable of everything she was despite his constant headaches but she didn't want to cause him too much stress. Would bathing Elizabeth bring about her memories of busy summers again? Memories of a mother who had wanted more children so desperately that she took care of any child that came her way. How sad that Rosalind was the only child she'd gotten.

Rosalind entered the bathroom and set Elizabeth on the floor. She turned on the water and let it run for a moment before plugging the tub. Elizabeth crawled over to her curiously and watched her as she gathered the soap and a washcloth.

Rosalind turned off the water and looked back at Elizabeth. She removed her diaper and was glad to see that there was no poop. She placed the girl in the tub and sighed as Elizabeth immediately began splashing. She giggled as she moved her hands through the water and Rosalind ignored it all as she wiped her down.

"How did you get bread in your hair?" she asked aloud. She used her comb to remove the crumbs and frowned as they fell into the water. Elizabeth took no notice and instead grabbed for the soap. She laughed fully as the bar of soap slipped from her hands and into the water.

"I believe this is more fun then she's had all morning." Robert was in the doorway now holding up the bag from before. He didn't enter the bathroom and instead set it on the floor, choosing instead to linger in the doorway.

"There is nothing here for her to do." Rosalind said, "I suppose I can buy her a toy when I go grocery shopping." She had meant to do it today and was hoping to bring Robert along. A walk down to Albert Fink's Magical Melodies shop would have done him well. But with Elizabeth here, it would not happen. She did not want to be seen with the girl in public and they could not leave her alone. Maybe she would send Robert if he was up for it. He seemed weary though he would not admit to it.

"What do kids her age play with?" Robert asked.

"I don't know." Rosalind said, "She had no toys at Comstock House either." Nothing in that nursery had been put there to stimulate her mind. She was sure the child just sat alone most of the time. But at least she'd had a nurse there to keep her out of trouble.

"I'll go to the grocer now if that's alright," Robert said.

"Okay." she nodded. she pulled the plug from the tub and Elizabeth gasped as the water drained. Rosalind watched as she attempted to grab the water as it went down the drain. "I've already created a list, it's in the study."

"I won't be gone long," he said as he walked away.

"Take your time," she said, although she was sure she would regret it. It only seemed right after she had left him alone for so long with Elizabeth.

Robert said goodbye once more before leaving. Rosalind took Elizabeth from the tub and dried her quickly. Elizabeth giggled more as Rosalind looked for a dress to wear. Nothing too frilly, she hated layers of unnecessary frills but that was most of her wardrobe. She finally selected a light yellow dress that seemed simple enough.

She quickly put Elizabeth in a diaper and her dress before leaving the bag in the bathroom.

She wasn't sure what to do now. Elizabeth watched her expectantly but Rosalind had no idea what to do. Perhaps she could read in the study?

They headed down to the second floor and Rosalind set her down on the floor. The child rushed over to a stack of newspapers and began looking through them. Rosalind sat down in her chair and began to read through her notes.

Everything was flowing smoothly when it came to her Lutece field. The only problem was the reactors powering it. They weren't receiving enough power and several of them were shutting down randomly. She had already put together a team to handle that but she wasn't satisfied with results.

"Da!" Elizabeth shouted. Rosalind looked up to see that she had found one of her journals and had begun to turn the pages roughly.

"Stop that." Rosalind stood and retrieved the journal. Elizabeth had ripped a few pages and gotten saliva on them. "Why would you put something like this in your mouth?" she asked herself mostly. Elizabeth was already focused on the leg of the desk. She slapped it and nodded as if satisfied with how sturdy it was.

Rosalind looked around the floor at the mess of books and journals strewn about. Her study was the least clean room in her home but she'd had no time to organize. The chalkboards were covered in blueprints from building the contraption. She kept them only because she had hoped to one day improve on the machine.

Elizabeth crawled towards a waste bin and looked inside curiously before tipping it over. "Don't do that..." Rosalind picked her up and sighed. She could not stay in the study with Elizabeth. Perhaps they could go back to the music room?

She went back up to the music room and allowed Elizabeth to sit. There was nothing within reach for her to mess with and the child noticed immediately. "That's right," Rosalind said as she sat down and attempted to finish her breakfast. Elizabeth followed behind her stopping only to hold up her small hand.

She wanted food and Rosalind tore a small piece of bread off and gave it to her. Elizabeth attempted to eat it and in the process ended up with jam all over her hands and face. How she had done it, Rosalind was not sure. There hadn't even been enough jam on that small piece for such a big mess. But Elizabeth had done it, she had even managed to get jam and crumbs in her hair.

Rosalind wiped her down with a napkin before looking for some music to play. Elizabeth followed her about as she looked through the collection of records. They had purchased almost all of Albert's stock when she realized how helpful music had been for Robert's recovery. "Do they play music at Comstock House?" Rosalind asked.

Elizabeth was silent in response. "Well, we play music here," she said. She set a record to play before settling down on the floor with Elizabeth. The girl mimicked her and sat as she did. "You'll be here a week, do you understand?"

"Buh" Elizabeth nodded.

"Good." Rosalind nodded, "Try not to make a mess, I shall not play mother for you." She listed her expectations and Elizabeth watched her through it all. Rosalind was sure that all of them would be ignored but she found that the longer she spoke, the more Elizabeth stayed put. "Now, do you want to hear about the Lutece Field?"

She took the noise Elizabeth made as a yes and launched into an explanation of her discovery. She found it easy to speak about it and she didn't mind when Elizabeth whined and begged to be picked up. She did so and continued talking. "And it does not levitate." she said, "They're locked in place at a fixed height. It was a little complicated to get the city to stay put in the air while I locked the particles, but as you can see it has been done."

"You've put her to sleep." Robert entered the music room.

"You've gotten better at sneaking up on me," she said. Twice in one day he had appeared suddenly.

Elizabeth snoozed quietly in her arms but Rosalind knew it would not last. This would be her second nap now in a span of 2 hours. But Rosalind would put her in bed anyway and let it be. "It isn't hard," Robert said.

"What isn't?" Rosalind followed him down into the kitchen.

"I heard a few mothers speaking about it, they mix these items for their babies." Robert gestured to the items he'd purchased. Cream, milk, honey, and a host of oranges. "We're meant to boil the milk and then add the other ingredients."

"Why oranges?" Rosalind asked as she sat down.

"Agatha said that children should have orange juice in their milk during breakfast," Robert said with a shrug. He did not elaborate on the identity of this Agatha person, "I believe this will last us the week." he said. And if Elizabeth would be staying longer... Well, they would deal with the problem if it ever came to be.

"Children her age can also have oatmeal," Robert said. Rosalind smiled as she imagined Robert lingering next to a group of mothers as he attempted to gather information. "But Agatha had to leave so unfortunately that's all the information I have."

"Well, it's more than we had," she said.

"Indeed." he sat down, "I can make lunch." Rosalind looked at the clock, it was only 10 in the morning and they'd had breakfast not an hour ago.

"I think I'll have a nap instead." she was tired and she was sure he was too.

"That sounds like a lovely idea," Robert said. He put the milk and cream away but left the rest out on the countertop. She went to her room and carefully shifted Elizabeth over. The child rolled towards her but didn't wake up.

"Please wake me if I sleep too long," she said. She was sure that Robert would sleep longer but it didn't matter, she was exhausted and felt as though she could sleep all day. She closed her door and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.


	4. February 9th, 1894

February 9th, 1894

Much to his dismay, Rosalind was leaving again. "You forgot several things on this list," she said as she put on her coat. He frowned as he recalled the day before. He'd been full of exhaustion and had only offered to go so that Rosalind would not leave him alone with the child again. But it had backfired, he had forgotten more than half of the list while listening to the group of mothers.

"Don't make that face." Rosalind said, "I won't be leaving Emporia, I'll always be within reach. If it comes down to it, lock her in the music room."

"She'll destroy the gramophone," Robert said. he followed Rosalind to the door and she turned back to him one final time.

"2 hours at the most." she said, "She'll be asleep for at least an hour, I think." Rosalind's guesses on Elizabeth’s sleep patterns were merely guesses. She had no idea how often or how long the child would sleep.

"Okay, be safe." he looked over her at the crowded streets, "I'll have tea ready when you return."

With a final goodbye, she was gone. Robert was not sure what he should do. Elizabeth was asleep, that was true, but he could not shake the feeling that she would wake the moment he began to settle down. Should he plant himself in the study and look over the reactor notes? There were quite a few of them that would need to be compiled into one.

On his better days, he had traveled to a reactor in Finkton. It was attached to one of his factories and Robert had been shocked to see the building listing heavily to one side. He had examined the reactor thoroughly and found the cause to be a power outage in one of the 6 cells. It had been out for 30 seconds and with the power out, the Lutece field had shut down in the one area.

With the power restored, the platform would right itself soon enough, but the main concern was the power outage. The readings had all been normal according to staff. All normal until it spontaneously shut down and powered back up.

That was a problem occurring with several reactors. Most of the time it was Rosalind who braved the cold to deal with it and he was left alone to deal with his headaches and notes. He did what he could but it didn't stop him from feeling as if his presence was a burden.

Rosalind would hastily disagree if he were to mention his thoughts but he could see how weary she was when she returned. He made her food, he looked through her notes, and he attended meetings in her place whenever he could but it was not enough. Perhaps that was why he did not complain when she asked him to stay home with Elizabeth.

Today was a rare day where he felt no pain. No throbbing, no aching, just peace. He would have gladly gone out to do something but he was trapped inside with a child.

She had been a hassle the day before but today she had been calm. It was noon already and she had not cried once. Perhaps because she had been fed and cleaned and held until she fell asleep. Was that what he was meant to do? He couldn't imagine it. But Rosalind had done so without batting an eye. She had spoken to him while simultaneously cleaning Elizabeth. She was much better at being a parent than he was.

He heard Elizabeth babbling to herself and sighed. She was awake now. If she had been in a crib, he would have let her sit with her own thoughts. But she was on Rosalind's bed and at any moment she could decide to crawl right over the edge. He didn't want a repeat of the day before.

Closing the door to the study, he went to Rosalind's room. Elizabeth was still lying down and staring up at the ceiling. It seemed as if she were talking to someone. "I see you're awake," he said as he entered the room.

Elizabeth turned to him and smiled. Was she happy to see him? He found himself smiling back as he retrieved her from the bed. "We can listen to music," he said.

Elizabeth poked at his face as he took her to the music room. He set her down and she crawled away. There was nothing for her to grab, Rosalind had made sure but there was a solitary can on the floor. Elizabeth crawled over to it and pushed it away from her. She giggled as it rolled and followed after it.

It was strange how something so simple kept her interested. Judging by the journals and notes on the coffee table. Rosalind had managed to keep her busy enough with it while she compiled her notes. He sat down on the sofa and continued her work. It was always so easy to do so. It was as if he had started them himself.

Was it because they were the same person? Was it her memory influencing his thoughts. He would never know, but the journals would keep him busy enough until he could at least discuss it with her.

He felt the can against his foot and looked down. Elizabeth was still across the room, frowning as if she had lost her favorite toy. He kicked it back to her and her smile returned before she continued to play. Had she thought it gone once it rolled out of view?

He spent over an hour looking at the notes and he was happy that Elizabeth had not started to cry once. If she were always like this, he wouldn’t have a problem with her being there. Unfortunately, he knew that once she grew weary or hungry she would start wailing again. Hopefully, Rosalind would be back by then.

0.o.0.o.0

The exhaustion went deeper than she'd ever thought it could. Every part of her begged for sleep but that was not possible with Elizabeth around. Even when she did sleep, her nights were not restful. Elizabeth tossed and turned and Rosalind could not sleep. When she finally did get to sleep, she was always awoken by Elizabeth.

The girl woke before her and seemed to enjoy touching her face. Just that morning she had awoken to the girl sitting on her chest and drooling.

Yes, her sleeping arrangements were less than ideal, but where else was the girl meant to sleep? Alone in the guest room? Not when the contraption poked through the floor. Elizabeth would fall straight through if she crawled to close, of course, that would only happen after she fell from the bed, but it would still happen.

Elizabeth could not sleep with Robert. Rosalind had witnessed him tossing and turning every night in his early days with her. He still had not stopped that habit and she did not want to deal with the outcome of him rolling onto her in the night. With no other options, Elizabeth had to sleep with her.

Robert would not understand it at all. He played with her all day but slept soundly through the night. Rosalind was used to late working nights but she was not used to them in conjunction with a restless child.

Rosalind shivered at the wind and headed for her first destination. She had passed the store on many occasions but she never saw a reason to enter. Elizabeth had been with them 3 days now and Rosalind was growing tired of her grabbing everything in sight. She needed something to occupy her mind. Something stimulating so that she wouldn't get bored of it too quickly.

It was a small corner shop that sold things for children. It was the only one in Emporia and it kept business quite well because of that. Today there weren't many people inside and Rosalind slipped inside.

"Is that Madame Lutece?" she heard someone whisper.

"I believe so..."

"What's she doing in a place like this?"

Rosalind scanned the rows of toys and cribs. She would buy one thing for Elizabeth and then she would leave. "Madame Lutece?" someone spoke up.

She turned to the group of women, "Yes?"

"Is there anything we could help you with?" the woman asked. She looked back at her friends for encouragement, "We didn't know you had a child."

"I don't." she had not meant to sound so angry but the words still caused the girl to flinch.

"I see." she nodded, "Then are you perhaps searching for a gift?" Rosalind did not like how the women watched her. What did they expect her to say? They were only interested in gossiping and what better gossip than Madame Lutece shopping for a child.

"Yes," she nodded, "A colleague of mine will be visiting and they have a small child, only a year old."

"Oh, I suggest a bear!" one woman said.

"Or blocks!" the other said.

"Ladies, I'll meet you for tea in a moment." the one closest to her said, "Leave my customers be." The ladies left them and Rosalind looked over the assortment of bears. "I'm sorry about that, they've nothing better to do with their time."

"This is your store?" she asked.

"Well, my husband's." she said, "Although he leaves most of the sales to me. My name is Isabel."

"A pleasure to meet you." Rosalind said politely, "Do children play with teddy bears? Or would she need something better?"

"Well, if she'd only a year old... I suggest the bear." Isabel said, "Her parents surely have blocks already. And if she'd only visiting, a bear would be a nice gift." A bear would be good then. It would hardly provide stimulation but as Rosalind looked at the blocks, she realized that she didn't want them cluttering up her space. Elizabeth would only remain with them for 4 more days.

"Is there a difference then?" she looked over them all. Different sizes and colors lined the shelves but they all looked the same.

"Not really." Isabel admitted, "But parents seem to like to get certain colors. Usually, they get whatever color the mother likes. What color does your friend like?"

"Orange," she answered. That was Robert's favorite color and her own was close to it. Isabel retrieved a small bear and handed it to her.

"This one is soft, children like to sleep with it." Isabel said, "My daughter likes to hug it."

"How old is your daughter?"

"She's 18 months now." Isabel beamed, "I gave it to her when she was a year old." Isabel went on to explain how she had started her business making teddy bears and toys after someone offered to buy the toys she'd made for her own children. Soon the business expanded, her husband began building furniture for children and making wooden toys.

"This will be good then." Rosalind nodded.

"Will that be all then?" Isabel asked.

"I think I should buy a blanket as well." Perhaps she would feel more comfortable if she had a softer blanket. The cloth they wrapped her in now were the remains of a bedsheet that had been torn several times. Elizabeth did not complain, but Rosalind was sure that a soft blanket would make her sleep more restful.

"Any particular color?" Isabel said as the walked over to the selection of blankets.

"Light blue." Rosalind squeezed the bear lightly and watched as it immediately fell back into shape.

"How about this?" Isabel held one up. Rosalind ran her hands down the blanket and shook her head. "It's good for winters, but not comfortable for anything besides walks outside."

"This one would be used for sleeping," Rosalind said. She looked over the blankets herself and found herself drawn to one blanket. A light blue blanket with dark blue borders. "This one." she felt the soft fabric and nodded to herself. This one would be perfect.

Isabel smiled, "I'll ring it up for you." she said. She collected the items from Rosalind and took them to the register. Rosalind followed and paused to look at the large posters behind the register.

The first was of Lady Comstock holding a child. The child was not Elizabeth. She was similar but this child had light brown hair and brown eyes. It was a noticeable change and Rosalind sure it wasn't because the print had begun to fade. "Truthfully, Lady Comstock has never set foot in this store." Isabel said as she folded the blanket, "I've not seen the miracle child once yet."

"It might be too cold for her outside." Rosalind looked to the next poster. It was again an edited version of Elizabeth, this time she was hugging a bear.

"Very true." Isabel said, "I've heard rumors that she was sickly. She was born early." Rosalind was certain that no one believed Comstock's 7 days story but it had never occurred to her that they would form their own tales. Elizabeth, a premature child. "A cousin of mine had a child born early, the poor baby didn't survive a week." Isabel was oversharing again. Telling of her life down below and how good it was to be allowed up in the city.

"How long have these posters been there?" Rosalind asked.

"Father Comstock just gave them to me this morning. He said he wanted the world to know what baby Eleanor looked like." Isabel said.

"Eleanor?" Rosalind was caught off guard. He had changed her name too?

"Yes, I believe that's her name," Isabel said. Isabel packed the items in a gift box and handed them to her. "I think it fits." Rosalind paid for her things and left quickly. She would take a walk around the market and test a theory.

She had not gone into 2 shops when she saw another sign. This new baby Eleanor was everywhere now. Images of this baby and Lady Comstock hung on the walls as if Comstock was sending a message. This was the miracle child and the blue-eyed baby in Lutece labs did not exist.

"She's not as pretty as my baby girl." Rosalind sat down on a bench and listened to the woman as they chatted.

"You say that about every child you see." another mother giggled. Rosalind had not realized that there were so many mothers in Columbia. Perhaps because she had never sought them out until now. "I could have sworn her name was Elizabeth."

"Oh nonsense," the first woman said, "It's been, Eleanor. I heard that she's named after Lady Comstock's own mother."

Rosalind stood quickly and headed to the grocery store. She would discuss this with Robert when she returned home.

Harper's Grocery was very close to the labs which was why she'd left it as her last stop. Much to her dismay, there were posters of Eleanor surrounded by fruits. When had the child become an advertisement? Why did every store need to have a picture of this child posted on the walls?

"Madame Lutece." The shopkeeper greeted. Rosalind had grown used to everyone greeting her as soon as she entered the store, but the mystery posters were putting her on edge. She handed the man the list and stared at the posters as he gathered the ingredients for her.

"When did you receive these posters?" she asked.

"Just this morning." The shopkeeper said, "Father Comstock delivered them just as I was opening up."

"This is his child, correct?" she asked. She knew the brown eyes baby was not Elizabeth

"I imagine so," he nodded, "I think her name is Eleanor."

Rosalind frowned, She didn't like what she was seeing. She needed to get home and speak to Robert about it. Perhaps he had seen something when he had gone out a few days ago.

0.o.0.o.0

Robert helped her with the bags and she went to the kitchen. "What's in the box?" he asked curiously.

"It's for Elizabeth," Rosalind said.

"Oh?" Robert looked at the box, “Let’s give it to her now then.”

"Where is she?" Rosalind asked.

"In the music room." Robert said, "Occupied with that same can of carrots." Rosalind took the box and headed upstairs. It occurred to her now that Elizabeth might not like the bear at all. "Is it a toy?" he asked. He seemed to be very excited at the idea of giving the child a gift.

"Yes. I visited a shop," she said. They entered the music room and found Elizabeth standing and using the table for balance. She was chewing on the tabletop and she stopped only when she noticed them. She let go of the table and fell down on her bottom. "Is she hungry?"

"You fed her before you left." Robert reminded. So why was she making a snack of her table? She placed the box on the table and Elizabeth watched curiously.

"It's just a teddy bear." Rosalind lifted the bear out of the box and held it out to Elizabeth. The child stared at the bear, her eyes flicking over every stitch and button curiously. Did she not like it? Maybe she should have gotten a different color. Or maybe a different size.

Before she could pull it away, Elizabeth wrapped her arms around the bear and squealed. She shook the bear happily and hugged it close. "I think she likes it." Robert moved to stand beside her. They watched together as Elizabeth laid back and held the bear up.

"Good," Rosalind said.

"Is that a blanket?" Robert pulled the blanket from the box.

"I was hoping it would help her sleep better," Rosalind said. And in return, she would sleep better as well. Maybe a blanket wouldn't be the fix that she needed but Rosalind felt more comfortable in her bed after she had chosen the best sheets and blankets for herself.

"It matches her well." Robert looked over the fabric, "It matches her eyes."

Rosalind sat down and watched Elizabeth speak to her bear for a moment. She was brought back to the image of Eleanor in the shops. "Comstock has put up posters of a new child in town."

"A new child?" Robert sat beside her.

"A little girl named Eleanor."

"Could he be predicting what his new child will look like?" Robert asked.

"I don't think so." she knew that Comstock would have come to her first. He didn't make any announcements without looking at several tears to be sure that it happened enough. She had told him that just because it happened several times did not mean it would happen for sure.

So what did this new child Eleanor mean? What was the reasoning for re-branding the miracle child? Rosalind had an idea but she didn't want to think about it. What would they do if Comstock did not take Elizabeth back?

"Did you find everything you needed?" Robert attempted to change the subject. Perhaps he didn’t want to think of that scenario either.

"I did." she nodded, "I won't be going out again until she's gone."

She saw him relax at her words, "You should take a walk." she suggested. She had left him alone with her several times and she knew it was unfair.

"I'd rather wait until we can both go together," he said.

"Alright," she would not push the issue. It would only be 4 days until they were free to continue work as they had been before, "I see you finished the notes."

“Yes.” Robert said, “I managed to compile them all into one journal.” At least he did not seem as weary as he had the first time she left him with Elizabeth.

She felt something wet against her leg and shivered. She looked down to see Elizabeth attempting to use her leg to stand. Rosalind wrinkled her nose, "Why are your hands so wet?"

Elizabeth said nothing and laughed instead. "She keeps putting her hands in her mouth." Robert said, "And then she touches everything. I've been wiping saliva off of every surface."

Elizabeth slapped her leg and held her arms up once Rosalind looked at her. She was not in the mood to hold the child. Had she grown bored of the teddy bear already? "Please, go play somewhere else," Rosalind said.

"She doesn't listen," Robert said

"Of course not." Rosalind crossed her arms, "I doubt she even understands what we say to her."

"Should she be able to?" Robert asked, "I've been thinking about that all day.

"What?”

"Shouldn't she know how to say a few words? Or even how to walk on her own? She can't even stand without support." Robert said.

"I don't know..." she thought back to her childhood and tried to remember when the children they'd cared for began to walk.

"Do you think she was affected by the tear? She lost a finger but what if it also delayed her mentally?" Robert asked.

"It didn't cause any mental defects with you." Rosalind pointed out. Besides the dissonance, he was just as smart as he had been before and she had yet to see him having trouble learning new things.

"I'm not an infant." Robert said, "But she is."

Elizabeth whined and Rosalind sighed before picking her up. Elizabeth leaned back and absently picked at the buttons on the bear. "I'm sure it has more to do with the fact that she was most likely left in her crib all day," Rosalind said.

"When we send her back, they'll just do the same thing to her." Robert said thoughtfully, "She'll never walk."

"That's a bit extreme," Rosalind said. Rosalind knew it was probably true but she found that she didn't actually care. She would have gotten the same treatment with Booker. "She'll be fine."

"I’m not so sure.” Robert said, “Should we check on her?”

“I don’t think Lady Comstock would want me coming into their house. She already believes that the child is mine and that thought would only be strengthened if I were to begin to make weekly visits to her.” Rosalind said. And besides Lady Comstock, she didn’t want to visit Elizabeth. She disliked children and that had not changed at all in the last few days. “You’re welcome to do so if you please,” she said.

“Maybe just for a month or so.” Robert said thoughtfully, “Just until she learns to walk.”

She rolled her eyes and stood, “Let’s go down to the kitchen.” she decided, “We can talk more about the reactors while I prepare dinner.” She would not fret too much about Elizabeth or the new posters in town, in a few days, she would not have to worry about either at all.


	5. February 12th, 1894

February 12th, 1894

They had made it through with no problems. Despite Elizabeth's crying and his headaches, no one had died. Rosalind was exhausted but she handled it well.

"I suppose this will be goodbye," he said. He held her as she sipped from her cup of milk. Elizabeth glanced at him as he spoke, "You'll be going home today."

He would not say he was excited, but he was ready to continue his life as it was. He had only just begun including himself with Rosalind's work. She was the Chief Scientist of the Department of physical sciences at the science authority and he had been made a member of the same authority just by existing. Rosalind had been quick to raise his status to something right below hers and no one complained at all. Still, he had yet to show them that he was just as smart as his _sister_.

Robert watched as Elizabeth drank the milk hungrily and found that he felt a little sad. The child had certainly grown on him in her short stay. Her constant babbling and giggling was not as annoying as he assumed it would be. When she cried, it was terrible, of course. But once he and Rosalind had created a routine, she had calmed considerably.

Now she spent most of her time playing with the teddy bear that Rosalind had purchased her. Perhaps it was the only toy she had but she never let it go. Even now as she finished her milk, she held on tightly to the bear. "All done?" he asked. She licked her lips as he pulled the cup away. Yes, he would miss her.

He set the cup in the sink and went back up to the music room. They'd spent the better half of the week in the room. He listening to music and Elizabeth playing with her bear on the floor. "Perhaps I'll visit." he said as he placed her on the floor. She looked up at him sadly, did she know she was leaving again? She did seem to understand some things he said, maybe she knew this was her last moment with him.

He once again selected a record to play at random. He turned it on and sat down on the floor with Elizabeth. She looked at him expectantly. Rosalind always told lengthy stories to her while they were all together. By stories, he meant that Rosalind read her notes to Elizabeth and the child listened as intently as a baby could.

"Surely that bores you," he said to her. He was always willing to listen when Rosalind spoke. She did not talk down to him despite the fact that she seemed to know more. He often wondered if she would have been as smart if he'd gotten the opportunity to study more and receive funding. Whatever the case was, he knew he had a lot of catching up to do.

"Buh?" she called to him and he smiled. She smiled back and crawled closer to him.

"Just lost in thought," he said. She nodded as if she understood and began pulling at the button eyes on her bear. "How do you feel about leaving?" He wanted her to answer although he knew it didn't matter. Lady Comstock would probably always dislike the child and Comstock would most likely leave her care to a nurse or maid. Maybe he would ask to give her lessons when she was older.

He laughed to himself, what a thought that was. He was certain that in a few weeks, he would push the thought of the girl to the back of his mind as he had before. It was an unfortunate truth but it was reality. He would not even be thinking of her if she hadn't been dropped on their stoop.

The door slammed and he looked towards the stairs. "I believe Rosalind's home," he said.

"Robert?" she called.

"Music room," he called back. He could hear her stomping up the steps and wondered what she was so upset about. Elizabeth hugged her bear closely as she watched the door.

Rosalind entered and looked down at him before handing him a newspaper. She walked over to the couch and sat down, "Rosalind?" he stood and walked over, "What happened?"

"Do you remember what I told you? About the posters in town?" she asked.

"He changed her name to Eleanor." he nodded.

"He was never going to take her back!" Rosalind almost shouted. "The moment I agreed to let her stay, he started constructing this story." He finally looked down at the newspaper.

'The Lamb of Columbia smothered in her crib by a jealous negro maid..."

"Keep reading." Rosalind rubbed her temples.

"On the eve that Lady Comstock discovered she was with child again, she kissed her baby girl goodnight for the last time. After hearing that she might be let go, a colored maid possessed by the truest form of evil took a pillow and suffocated the Miracle Child. The child was taken in the night into the Lord's loving arms..." Robert didn't read anymore. He didn't need to.

The Comstock's had framed a maid for the fake death of Elizabeth. And now with the child dead, he didn't want her back. Robert looked down at Elizabeth who had crawled over and sat down beside his leg. "why didn't we notice?" he wondered aloud.

"I did... with all the posters and her name change..." Rosalind said, "He changed everything about her and it should have been clear to me then."

Robert nodded. It had been very clear to them both when they first learned of the changes. He had refused to give the idea any credit. He had not wanted to believe that they would be stuck with the child.

"What do we do now?" he let the paper fall to the floor and sat beside Rosalind. Elizabeth focused on the pages, pulling and ripping as she pleased.

Rosalind watched the child for a moment before looking to him, "We have to send her back." she said.

"To Comstock?" he asked.

Rosalind shook her head before turning her attention back to the child, "To her real father, Robert." she said, "We'll send her back to Booker Dewitt."

That didn't seem right. They could not send her with that drunk. He had let her starve cold and alone in her bedroom. She had no clothing there and her blanket was filthy. And now that it had been 8 months, he was sure that Booker had moved on.

With no debt to his name, he was free to keep drinking and gambling. "We can't..." he said slowly.

"Why not?" Rosalind narrowed her eyes.

"He... He sold her away!" Robert said, "And with no debt, what do you think he's been doing the last 8 months? Do you think he's gotten a job and turned his life around?"

"Does that matter?" Rosalind crossed her arms.

"If he has more debt... Do you know what happens to young girls who grow up in a place like that?" Robert asked. A shadow of understanding passed over her face, "He sold her once... Who's to say he won't do it again?"

It was a sickening thought but he had lived in that very area. He'd seen the young girls out begging for money or being sold to the highest bidder. Elizabeth did not deserve that, none of those girls did.

"Then what do we do with her?" Rosalind looked down at Elizabeth. The girl had moved closer to her and was now pulling at her skirt, "There are no orphanages up here. We'd have to send her to one right down in America. And what do you think will become of her then? The exact same thing."

"We'll keep her." he said it without thinking.

Rosalind looked to him and didn't speak. He fought the urge to wither under her scrutinizing gaze and stayed strong. "We can't do that." Rosalind shook her head.

"Why not?"

"This house is not meant for children." she said, "Are you to be a stay at home father? Because I shall not be giving up any more time for her. And what happens if you have a spell? Should I be made to care for both of you?"

"Both of the fathers she's known have been terrible to her." he said firmly, "We have everything she needs here. Can you really just sit by as she falls right through the cracks?" Prostitution, hunger, death... he couldn't imagine it. Not for the child that he had held in his arms not 10 minutes ago. Not for the child who giggled while he changed her diaper, who listened to Rosalind as if her word was all that mattered, who now sat and stared at them both in confusion.

"You were ready to send her away this morning." Rosalind reminded.

"Yes..." he agreed, "Because I was certain that even if the Comstock's didn't spoil her, she would be taken care of."

Rosalind finally picked Elizabeth up off the floor, "You've grown close to her." she said, "It's only been a week."

"And you feel nothing?" Robert asked, "You've slept face to face with her for an entire week. You feed her every morning, you bathe her before bed. You hold her while you go over theories! Did any of that mean anything?"

"I can't be her mother." Rosalind said quietly, "And that's what she needs."

"You don't have to be a mother." Robert said, "You don't have to give up your job."

"Can you make tea?" she asked.

He watched her for a moment before nodded. Perhaps because he knew himself and he knew her, he already knew what her answer would be. At least he hoped he did.

He left her alone with Elizabeth and prepared a kettle. He sat and watched it boil as he thought about their options. He couldn't force Rosalind to care for Elizabeth. But he couldn't allow her to toss the girl aside like this. Perhaps he would find a place to go. If Rosalind was so insistent on getting rid of her, he would go too.

Back to his original home where he had struggled. He would find a job, he was certain of that and he would take care of her. Perhaps he was being too emotional now, he was not a father but he felt guilty.

The kettle whistled and he stood to move it from the flames. He slowly prepared a tray with biscuits and cups. He wondered what it was that Rosalind was doing alone with Elizabeth now. Perhaps fighting within herself.

Robert took the tea back to the music room and set it down. Rosalind was now walking back and forth with Elizabeth in her arms. "Well?" he asked, "What will you do?"

"You aren't actually giving me a choice," Rosalind said quietly.

"I am." he tried, "I won't force you. Not if you truly don't want to." He prepared a cup of tea and waited.

Rosalind didn't stop her pacing as she thought. He couldn't tell what she was thinking and even after several minutes when she sat down and took a sip of her tea, he was still waiting. "Rosalind?" he pressed.

"She's ready for her nap now," she said. Rosalind drank her tea quickly before setting the cup down again.

"She likes you too." he pointed out. It had not taken long for Elizabeth to start liking Rosalind. Robert knew that the child had latched on to Rosalind the moment she had found her in the lobby. Even now Elizabeth was clinging to her as she fell asleep.

"I believe she would like anyone who cares for her." Rosalind said, "Babies imprint on caretakers easily."

Maybe Rosalind needed more time to form an answer, he could at least convince her to wait a few days. He looked up at Rosalind as she stood and set Elizabeth on his lap. The child began to cry as Rosalind walked away, "We'll keep her." she said.

"We'll be fine-" he started.

"Put her down for her nap please," Rosalind said walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" Robert asked.

"I have something to do," Rosalind said as she left him alone. Robert heard the door close as Rosalind left before focusing on the crying child in his lap.

"She just needs time," he said with a sigh. Hopefully, he was right.

0.o.0.o.0

The clocked chimed and he watched the door expectantly. He hadn't expected Rosalind to be gone for more than an hour but as the sunset, he grew concerned. She had not taken her jacket and he knew it was cold out today. He knew she was upset but he'd never thought she would just disappear.

he knew, of course, that she would return. This was her home after all. If she was cross with him there were several rooms she could stay in to avoid him. But the fact that she didn't do that and had instead chosen to brave the cold put him on edge.

Elizabeth wailed loudly in his ear and he wondered why she was so upset. She had eaten, they had played and now as he tried to put her to bed, she resisted heavily.

"Tell me what's wrong." he pleaded but she continued to cry.

He bounced her in his arms and paced the room. She had to be tired, he had witnessed her constant yawning and even now she wouldn't even sit up, why was she struggling? Was she hurt?

It occurred to him now that he didn't know anything at all about children. Though he had been the one to watch over and play with her while Rosalind was gone, he still wasn't able to comfort the crying child. Even mimicking what Rosalind did nightly didn't put the child at ease.

Elizabeth's wailing settled into sniffles and he sighed in relief. He wasn't sure if he could handle any more crying. He realized now that he had only assumed this would be easy because Rosalind had been so good at it. He'd watch her put Elizabeth down for bed and naps with ease. Elizabeth never seemed to protest when Rosalind told her it was time to bed. Maybe a frown but she would always lay against Rosalind's chest and allow the woman to talked her to sleep.

Was he jealous of himself now? He could be a good father if he had time but the fact that Elizabeth was already so attached to Rosalind didn't help. Rosalind didn't seem to like her much at all, so why did Elizabeth choose Rosalind over him?

Robert sat down on the sofa and Elizabeth began wailing again, "Don't like that then?" he muttered as he stood again. His arms were beginning to ache. The music was now only annoying him and he shut it off. "You want Rosalind to hold you." he guessed. He wanted Rosalind to return and hold her as well.

For a moment, he wondered if he was making the right choice.

Rosalind entered the room and looked at the two of them. "I've been trying to get her to sleep..." he tried. He'd wanted to make things as easy on her as possible. The adjustment would be harder for her and he could tell.

"She's still sticky," Rosalind said. She took the child from him and he was surprised to see Elizabeth calm immediately. "Why give him a hard time?" Rosalind asked, "He's only trying to help."

Elizabeth whimpered in response before burying her face in Rosalind's chest. "Robert, you look terrible." she said, "How long was she crying?"

"Only an hour." he said slowly, "She won't sleep."

"Only an hour." Rosalind raised a brow, "You would think that you knew how to put a child to sleep considering how hard you advocated for keeping her."

"Well, I don't have much experience right now," he said. Like most new parents, it would take time to get used to it.

"That much is obvious," Rosalind said bitterly. She took Elizabeth away and left him standing in the music room. He ran his hand through his hair and followed her. They were in the bathroom now and Rosalind was quickly washing Elizabeth up in the sink. "You can rest now." Rosalind didn't look at him, "I'll put her to bed."

He nodded and stepped away. Hopefully, this wouldn't cause a rift between them... It was the right thing to do and he would hate to lose Rosalind because of it.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read and commented so far. It means a lot.


	6. March 12, 1894

March 12, 1894

  
  


An entire month had passed since Elizabeth's supposed death and Rosalind was angry. The issue with the reactors was going to drive her crazy. The had worked perfectly since Columbia first took flight, why were they all failing now.

Each floating piece of the city held a reactor and Rosalind noticed that it was not the smaller reactors that were failing. Only the 6 larger ones. Each large reactor was composed of 4-6 smaller cells. They required extensive amounts of power to keep active and keep the city afloat. Her Lutece field was the main thing that raised the city. So long as the reactors were on, the Field would not shut off and the city would be fine.

There had been a few issues that popped up every winter but Rosalind and her colleagues had long since found a solution to frozen reactors. It seemed as if they finally had everything working and yet now, the reactors were having trouble again.

“The power readings are all normal.” Robert said, “Everything reads as normal until it shuts down.” The miniature shutdowns lasted only a few seconds before the reactors powered back up. The outages also never effected more than one cell at a time. It would leave a platform listing heavily to one side or one corner but it all seemed too calculated.

"It isn't an issue on our part." Rosalind said, "I've been to every one of them." Multiple times and after each incident, she and Robert would take turns. "This isn't a mechanical failure."

"Tampering?" Robert asked.

"I see no other way for this to be happening." Rosalind said, "They only go out after everyone has gone to bed. Once the markets are clear and no one is around to witness."

"We'll have to investigate further," Robert said.

"Yes, we'll mention it at the meeting on Friday," Rosalind said.

"You'll mention it." Robert said, "I'll stay home with Elizabeth." Rosalind rolled her eyes at her name. The little girl's presence was still nothing but a hindrance. She had watched Robert grow closer to the child as days went on but she couldn't conjure a single positive emotion when it came to the child.

"The meeting takes place during her nap." Rosalind said, "She'll sleep in my office there." She would not allow Robert to spend the rest of his days in this mansion. Though it had everything he needed, there was too much potential lying in his mind to let him spend his time playing peek-a-boo with a baby.

"We haven't taken her out in public yet." Robert mentioned, "Are you ready for that?" That being the rumors that were bound to spread. She had no doubt that they would assume that she was Elizabeth's mother. There would be questions and she had yet to come up with an explanation.

"She can't stay locked in here forever," Rosalind said. She knew that Robert was excited to go on their first outing and she just couldn't understand it. Perhaps he wanted to be a father and saw Elizabeth as his only chance.

Rosalind had no desire to start a family and now she was forced to be a mother to Elizabeth. Robert had said multiple times that he would be her caretaker but it simply wasn't possible. Not when her tears gave him terrible headaches. He could not get her to bed no matter how hard he tried. She had attempted to allow him full control but he could not handle it.

Even now, Elizabeth was curled up beside her and not him. She couldn't understand what drew the child to her. "We should buy a stroller," Robert said.

Elizabeth rolled onto her stomach and looked at her. "We'll do so tomorrow," Rosalind said.

"Why not today?" he asked. She looked up from her notes briefly, "Forget I asked." he said with a smile.

She felt Elizabeth struggling to climb onto her lap and sighed. "Robert, she's bored," she said.

"She seems content to me." Robert said, "She just wants to be held."

"I don't want to hold her." she said. She had held her in the morning when she woke up. Then again after she bit her tongue during breakfast, and again while Robert went to get more milk. She was tired of holding her.

"She doesn't want me to hold her." Robert said, "I would pick her up but you know how she gets." It was shameful that this small child was in charge now. If Robert picked her up now, she would cry loudly until he gave her back and Rosalind would end up rocking her until she calmed down enough.

“I won’t be holding her just because she wants me to.” Rosalind set her notes down. She picked up Elizabeth and placed her on the floor.

Elizabeth whined before pulling herself back onto the couch. She sat quietly and began to pull on the ears of her teddy bear. Rosalind waited a moment before picking up her papers again. It seemed that once Elizabeth noticed that she was no longer being watched, she began to misbehave.

Elizabeth grabbed at the papers and Rosalind felt her anger boil over. "Listen,” she snapped, “I am going to look over these notes you will stay on the floor until I am done, do you understand?" Rosalind set her on the floor once more and crossed her arms.

Elizabeth held her gaze for a moment before her lip began to quiver, "Oh no... don't do that." Rosalind said, "Robert?"

"Yes?"

"She's-”

Elizabeth began to wail and Rosalind sighed. "Pick her up," Robert said.

" _You_ pick her up." Rosalind rolled her eyes, "You're the one who wanted us to keep her, remember?"

"But _you_ made her cry." Robert didn't look up from what he was reading, "I can't be expected to hold her every time you choose to yell at her."

Rosalind felt her eye twitch as she glared at Robert. He, of course, didn't even look at her. "I wouldn't have had to if you were watching her like you said you would."

"She's still crying." Robert pointed out.

"I know!" Rosalind picked her up and shushed her. For once, Elizabeth did not calm immediately when Rosalind held her close. Her tears did not stop and Robert was slightly surprised.

"I suppose it's to be expected." He said with a shrug, "You did just yell at her."

"I didn't _yell_ at her." Rosalind said, "I merely spoke firmly."

"Firmly, yes." he finally set down his notes, "But also louder than before."

"You comfort her then." Rosalind handed him the baby before he could say no, "Maybe now she'll cling to you instead." Of course, the moment she handed the child over, Elizabeth looked back at her. Her face displayed the image of pure betrayal.

"Nooo..." she whined as she held her arms back out.

"Did she say no?" Robert asked.

"Yes." Rosalind nodded. Of course, her first word would be no. Rosalind had spent the better half of the month saying it. 'Elizabeth, no.' was one of her most used phrases.

Robert smiled wide and looked at her, "Soon she'll speak full sentences. I’m sure of it!"

"Already?" Rosalind sighed and took Elizabeth back. "You'll stop all that whining now, won't you?" she asked. Elizabeth answered by leaning against her and quieting down. She walked into the kitchen and Robert followed her.

“I think she'll be needing a room now," he said. And what room were they to use? She didn't want to give up any of her rooms. Not the study, not the music room, not the library. The guest bedroom was off-limits to anyone.

"Which room do you suppose we use?" Rosalind patted Elizabeth's back lightly.

"The study?" he suggested. It was where all of her notes were. Her research journals, her blueprints, her chalkboards. Where did he expect her to put it all? "We already spend so much time in the music room, we haven't been in there at all in the last month." The only reason they had not sat down to work was because of Elizabeth. Her constant crying and grabbing was too much for her. The child had already ruined a journal with sticky hands and saliva.

"No." Rosalind shook her head, "What will we do with all the stuff?"

"Move it to the library?" he suggested.

"That would... That would ruin the aesthetic," she said.

"Since when do you care about that?" Robert asked.

"What makes you think I don't?" she countered.

"The large contraption breaking a hole in the ceiling definitely ruins the aesthetic of the drawing-room." Robert said, "Or does that not count?" he smirked.

"It doesn't." she shook her head, "It was necessary, there was no other place to build it."

"Fine." Robert nodded, "I just assumed that you wouldn't want her to stay with you forever."

“I don’t…” she said. That didn’t mean she wanted to change any part of her home. She still held on to the belief that Comstock would return for her. Either that, or that Robert would agree to send her back to Booker. She knew that both scenarios would never happen but she refused to believe that Elizabeth would be her responsibility for good.

“So,” he said, “The study then?”

“No.,” she said firmly, “She won’t be getting her own room.” Not yet at least. She had to put a little more thought into which room she wanted to give up.

“Milk?” Elizabeth spoke up.

Robert gasped and Rosalind rolled her eyes, “That’s two words now!” he said.

“She’s 15 months now.” Rosalind pointed out, “I think that’s normal.” Rosalind didn't bring up the fact that other children already knew how to walk at this point. Elizabeth could barely even stand on her own. Would that be permanent? Had the Comstock’s leaving her alone in her crib caused her to miss her window.

“Rosalind?” Robert cleared his throat, “What are you thinking?”

“We have to teach her to walk.” she said, “Now.” She would not be holding Elizabeth forever.

“As in, right this moment?” Robert asked.

“Yes.” Rosalind nodded,

“Milk,” Elizabeth said again.

“You may have some milk when you learn to walk,” Rosalind said. She slowly placed Elizabeth on her feet and frowned when she automatically sat down, “No, stand up.”

“No.” Elizabeth stared and Rosalind frowned.

“I’ll make the milk,” Robert said.

“She won’t be getting milk until she walks,” Rosalind said. She took Elizabeth’s hands and helped her stand, “See? Now do this on your own.” Rosalind let go and Elizabeth fell back down.

“What’s the rush?” Robert asked.

“She needs to walk now or she’ll never learn,” Rosalind repeated her actions from before but instead of letting go, she led Elizabeth around the kitchen. Elizabeth’s steps were very uncoordinated. Had Rosalind been this way as a child? “Come now, you have to move your legs more.”

“Rosalind, please stop that,” Robert said

“Do you think this is enough?” she asked. Elizabeth seemed to be enjoying herself but it didn’t seem as if she was learning anything.

“Enough for what?”

“Enough for her to walk on her own?” she asked, “Perhaps she’ll take the hint and start walking.”

Robert laughed, “Come now, you know it isn’t that simple.”

“It could be if she would just cooperate.” Rosalind sighed, “Don’t you want to walk?” she looked at Elizabeth but the child was focused on Robert, “Remember, I said no milk until you walk.”

“Milk.” Elizabeth pointed and Rosalind shook her head.

“Robert, how is she supposed to take me seriously while you continue to make her milk?” Rosalind stood up straight.

“I can’t even take you seriously right now.” he said, “She isn’t going to learn in one day. You know that.”

“But-”

“Just let her be, she’ll get it on her own,” Robert said. Rosalind watched as he took the warm milk and pour it into a glass. “Once we help her stand on her own, the rest will come easily.”

“You don’t know that,” Rosalind argued.

“But _you_ do.” Robert reminded, “And it seems that your memories are trying to force their way into my head.”

“Do you have a headache?” she asked quickly. How often did that happen to him? She had thought it was over but perhaps she was wrong.

“It’s nothing serious. Sometimes I'll remember something and it won’t be my memory. I can usually tell the difference now.” he found the honey and put two large scoops into the milk, “All these memories about child-rearing have to be yours.”

“Did your mother not help raise children?” Rosalind asked. Her mother had done so until she was 14 years old.

“She did, but I was not involved in that process.” he reminded, “She never made me.”

Rosalind nodded and watched him finish the milk. “What if we’re too late?” she asked.

“We’re not.” Robert said, “Give her another month. She’ll catch up.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“She will.” Robert bent down and gave Elizabeth the milk. Rosalind sighed as she tipped the cup back and spilled most of it on herself. “She didn’t even know how to feed herself last month, look at her now.”

“I’d say that she still hasn’t learned.” Rosalind said, “I’m not going to clean her up.”

“I didn’t say you had to.” Robert said, “I just need you to relax. You don’t have to teach her to walk, I can do that for you.”

“You’re taking too long,” she said.

“There’s no rush,” he said again.

“There is!” she sighed. She didn’t know why she was fighting so hard. Robert was most likely right but she did not want the child to crawl forever. It would only be embarrassing to have a 5-year-old who could not walk.

“This is really worrying you...” Robert said.

“Is it not worrying you?” she asked, “Most of the children that mother raised could walk at this point. What if she never learns? We have to do this now.”

“Rosalind, it’s fine.”

“How do you know that?” She asked. Robert was always so optimistic about everything. There was no reason to believe that Elizabeth would recover from her period with Booker and the Comstock family.

“Look, she’s standing now.” he said, “As long as she can stand, she can learn to walk. Her legs are strong enough and she’ll get there on her own.” Rosalind looked at Elizabeth. She was indeed standing just fine on her own… Maybe she was overreacting.

“I won’t relax until she walks.” Rosalind decided.

“Rosalind...”

“Robert.” she crossed her arms.

They stared at each other before Robert sighed, “I’m going to clean her up now. Perhaps you can finish looking at the notes.”

“Fine.” She let Robert take Elizabeth up the stairs before cleaning the spilled milk and going back to her notes. If Robert wouldn’t do it, she would. She would teach Elizabeth to walk before the week was over.


	7. March 16th, 1894

March 16th, 1894

  
  


Elizabeth had not yet woken when Comstock shouted into their home. "Lutece?" he called despite the early hours. Elizabeth stirred beside her, letting out a gentle whimper at the disturbance. Rosalind sighed and gently rubbed her back until the grimace left the child's face.

"Lutece?" Comstock called again. Rosalind could hear Robert moving down the steps and she sat up. Hopefully, Robert wouldn't say anything too terrible. He was not fond of Comstock's unscheduled visits at all and this surely would not make him happy. The sun had yet to peek into the sky, what could he possibly want?

Rosalind slipped out of bed and began to make herself presentable. Would Elizabeth wake while they dealt with Comstock? Perhaps she should move her to the music room now, just in case. Comstock would be enough of a headache, she didn't want Elizabeth's crying to make it worse.

"He wants to see his child," Robert said from her doorway.

"Elizabeth?" she asked.

"No," Robert said, "His new child."

"That would be nothing but guesswork," Rosalind said with a sigh. How long would she be forced to stand pulling a lever until he saw what he wanted?

"He's insistent." Robert said, "He's waiting in the drawing-room." Robert crossed his arms, "I say, we make him wait."

"Surely you don't want him occupying our home for any longer than necessary." Rosalind began to put her hair up. She did not rush the action, making sure to take as much time as possible before standing again.

"I'll manage the generators," Robert said. Rosalind agreed, anything to keep him from waiting with Comstock. She cast one more glance at Elizabeth before heading down the stairs.

Rosalind entered the drawing-room and found Comstock leafing through her notes from the night before. She felt a surge of anger but stopped it quickly. the man knew nothing of privacy and it showed. "If you'll follow me." she cleared her throat and he set the papers aside.

"Madame Lutece, it's good to see you," he said with a smile.

"It's rather early." she led him to the contraption and he sat down again. She examined the meters as they began to power up. They had not used the machine once since Elizabeth began staying with them.

"I'm sure you're aware of my wife's dislike of you." Comstock said, "I think it would be beneficial to cause her as little stress as possible. She wouldn't like that I'm here."

"I'm sure she'll be just as angry once she realized you snuck away from your bed to come here." Rosalind waited for Robert to return. With all the generators now turned on, the house was abuzz with energy. Rosalind enjoyed the gentle hum of the contraption. Even standing next to it, she could feel the pull of the universe.

"I want to know what we'll be having." Comstock said, "It will make her happy to know."

"As I've said before, just because it happens somewhere, does not mean it will happen here," Rosalind said. Saying so seemed to be useless. Despite the numerous times she told him so, he would always take what little he’d seen and report it to the town. He had been wrong several times but no one seemed to care.

Robert entered the room and took his place at the lever. She nodded to him and he pulled the lever. The coils sparked with electricity and Rosalind felt her skin tingle.

Seeing the space before her split apart never ceased to amaze her. it was her creation and no one else would ever know the feeling. She briefly wondered if there were a world where she didn't have to hide her creation. Where Comstock was not a false prophet.

The first tear opened to an open field. A cow walked into view and mooed loudly before Comstock demanded they open another one. Robert pulled the lever again and the tear opened to a beach. There were several people there and the only one who noticed them was a small child. Robert closed the tear before the child could get close.

They opened and closed tears for almost 20 minutes until it opened to a newspaper stand. Comstock reached through and took one. He read over it slowly before he smiled and placed it back. "That's good enough for today," he said.

Robert shut down the machine and crossed his arms, "I take it you've found what you're looking for?" he asked curiously.

"Lady Comstock will have a boy." he beamed.

"You're sure of this?" Robert asked. Usually, Comstock made them open several tears so that he could see how often something happened. If he saw it twice, that was usually enough for him. But based on her original theory, Rosalind was willing to be there weren't many worlds were Comstock remained healthy enough to have a child. She'd seen a few where going through the tear to retrieve Elizabeth had aged him beyond belief. His dark hair had turned gray within days but Comstock here seemed fine. So far at least. He was the only one of them who had gone through several tears.

Robert and Elizabeth had only gone through once. Perhaps it was repeated exposure that was causing him to age. Was there a world where he used the machine even more than he did now? How did that Rosalind put up with that?

"I'm certain." Comstock said, "There are some things a father just knows."

Robert held his tongue as he escorted Comstock out of the house. He returned and sighed, “I don’t like him.”

Rosalind said nothing and instead went to shut off the generators. She supposed she should have been happy that he hadn't stayed all day, but she was angry. This was even more of a reason why he would never be taking Elizabeth back.

"We need a better lock," Robert said.

"We could hire someone to sit there." she said thoughtfully, "To take the mail and telegrams." She had once had someone there, but with Comstock repeatedly coming and going, she had thought it best to let the young girl go.

Robert helped her clean up the area around their machine. The opening of tears always caused so many distortions that papers and furniture always ended up scattered about the room. "We have no meetings scheduled for today, right?" Robert asked.

"None at all." Rosalind nodded. She wanted to spend the day relaxing but she wasn't sure if that would be possible. Robert would be irritated from Comstock's sudden visit and that in turn would make Elizabeth irritated as well. It would be like dealing with two fussy children.

"Then, why don't we relax today?" He suggested.

"No research?" she asked.

"None, just music and tea." he said, "Perhaps I can play a song for you?"

"The piano isn't tuned," she said. The last time she'd tapped the keys, they had all made a horrible noise.

"I can do that." Robert said, "Let me get ready for the day, I can get Elizabeth ready too."

"She's still asleep, let her stay that way." Rosalind shook her head, "You're forgetting that it's still early." She wanted to go back to bed. She could get another hour or so before Elizabeth woke her up if she was careful.

"That's fine, you should get some rest." Robert nodded, "I'll get everything ready for when you wake up."

Rosalind went back to her room and carefully undid her hair. She slid into her bed beside Elizabeth and watched the rise and fall of the young girl's chest.

She had been successful in teaching Elizabeth to walk this week. Even though Robert had asked her not to rush, she had felt compelled to help her walk. Elizabeth had gone from crawling everywhere to walking in just a few short days and now she did so as if she had always known how to walk.

Robert complained that she was even more of a hassle now that she walked but Rosalind was happy that she did not have to carry her around so much. The only other issue was the fact that she now woke and would walk right out of the room if Rosalind didn't make sure the door was closed.

Robert had to find a way to clock the stairs to keep Elizabeth from falling down them after the first day. Rosalind briefly wondered if he was right, perhaps she had been too hasty in her decision.

Rosalind had just closed her eyes when Elizabeth started whining. Rosalind kept her eyes closed and hoped that she would go back to sleep. But Elizabeth didn't, instead, she slapped Rosalind's face several times.

"Stop that." Rosalind sighed and opened her eyes. Elizabeth smiled continued to rub her face, "I get it, you're awake now." Rosalind sat up, "Is it too much to ask that you sit and let me sleep another hour?"

"No," Elizabeth said. That of course meant that Elizabeth was awake and everyone else had to be as well.

Rosalind picked the girl up and took her down into the kitchen. Robert was still seated there when she showed up. "I can take her." he held out his arms and Elizabeth went to him, "I didn't know she would wake so soon."

"I think it had something to do with Comstock's yelling and the generators," Rosalind said. The house had been buzzing with energy so it was understandable that Elizabeth woke up.

“You can go back to bed if you would like,” Robert said.

Rosalind shook her head. She wouldn’t be able to sleep while Elizabeth was awake. Just the thought of er destroying her belongings was enough to keep her awake. “I’ll make breakfast,” she said.

The day went by slowly. They did not relax despite how hard Robert attempted to. Elizabeth whined and cried and ripped apart any papers that she managed to get a hold of. “There go the reactor reports,” Robert said calmly.

“You were supposed to put those away before you went to bed yesterday,” Rosalind said,

“It slipped my mind.” he said, “But you needn’t worry, I still have the notes, I can redo the report,” he said.

She did not want to argue with him, but he would not have to redo them if he had put them away like he’d said he would.

During lunch, Elizabeth decided that she did not want to eat the meal prepared for her. Instead, she took the potatoes ad smeared them all over the table and herself. Rosalind did not like it but Robert could not see anything wrong with her actions.

“You were supposed to be watching her,” Rosalind said. It seemed that she couldn’t even leave Elizabeth with Robert. He was fine letting her do whatever she pleased and cleaning up the mess.

“She’s very quick. I only looked away for a moment.” he said, “Do you think she might enjoy painting?”

“Do not give that child any paint.” Rosalind pinched the bridge of her nose, “She’d paint the music room blue.”

“That wouldn’t be so bad.” Robert said, “Right Lizzie?”

“Lizzie?” When had he given her a nickname?

“She likes it.” Robert said, “Don’t you?” Elizabeth giggled in response.

They were both driving her crazy and she desperately wanted to spend a day without both of them. She had never expected to feel that way about Robert but he had changed since Elizabeth came into their lives.

Rosalind knew it was unfair to be angry about it. He was taking the situation well despite everything. She knew that he would have gladly given Elizabeth back to Comstock that day. Still, it bothered her to see him so carefree while she felt like ripping her hair out.

When the night was finally over, she sat in the kitchen and watched while Robert prepared milk for Elizabeth.

"A boy," Robert said finally. It was clear Comstock's visit had not yet left his mind.

"I've seen no tears of him having a boy before today," Rosalind said. And technically they still hadn't seen it. Perhaps the newspaper he'd read had told him of that. It was still strange to her that he was satisfied after just one tear but she would not complain.

"There are no more of Elizabeth." Robert pointed out. And there was not a single tear of Elizabeth had been opened. Was it because they weren't looking for her anymore?

"You're burning the milk," Rosalind said.

Robert began mixing the ingredients. "No honey..." Rosalind said.

"She likes honey," Robert said. But he pushed the jar of honey away anyway.

"It keeps her awake," Rosalind said. She was tired already and could feel that Elizabeth was too. The only reason that she had not put the girl to sleep was because she needed to eat. Elizabeth would wake them both in the middle of the night if she went to bed hungry.

Robert handed her a cup and she sat down. Elizabeth grabbed for the cup but Rosalind pulled it away. One look and Elizabeth dropped her arms, allowing Rosalind to tip the cup into her mouth. She did not want her to make any messes, she'd already had a bath.

Elizabeth held onto Rosalind's hands and drank quickly. She wondered when it was that Elizabeth would realize that she didn't need to drink as fast as possible. She would always be fed here with them. Was it the memory of her first few months that made her worry? Had Booker Dewitt taken her food away so she could focus on his own drink?

Surely there were some studies done on the effects of neglectful parents. "Slow down." she pulled the cup away and waited while Elizabeth caught her breath, "It isn't going anywhere."

"Do you want tea?" Robert asked.

"No, I'll be going to bed as well," she said. She found that she didn't mind sleeping beside Elizabeth as much as she had before. Elizabeth didn't move about as much as she did before. She still poked and prodded t her if she happened to wake before but that wasn't often.

In fact, in the dark of the night, Rosalind liked to listen to her soft breathing. It was comforting somehow that Elizabeth trusted her beyond anyone else. She did not sleep comfortably when left with Robert and would not even let him put her to sleep. But she relaxed completely with Rosalind. Even now she curled close as she waited for Rosalind to rock her to sleep. As she waited for the sign that things were okay.

"Getting sentimental?" Robert asked.

"What?" she looked away from Elizabeth.

"That look you were giving her... You two have a connection that I'll never have," he said. He was not upset about this, just curious. "She's always trusted you, from the beginning. She's only just now warming up to me." She played with Robert daily but that seemed to be all she expected from him. Why had she chosen to latch on to Rosalind? It was clear that Robert would always be the nicer of them. "It's not a bad thing." Robert clarified, "It's just a new side of you I've never seen."

"The maternal side?"

"No, I've seen that." Robert said, "In the beginning when you cared for me. I always knew you could do it. I just wonder why you're so against it." He was not against the idea of family at all. In fact, Rosalind was aware that he wanted to start his own one day. But he was a man, no one would expect him to change his life once he had a child.

"I can't do both." she said, "I can't watch over this city and keep her happy."

"You're doing so now." Robert pointed out.

"I'm doing half the work I'm used to." She said.

"For now," Robert said

She wished she could see the future with as much certainty as Robert did. He was always so optimistic and hopeful while she remained realistic. She could not see how this situation would end well at all.

Rosalind tipped the cup back into Elizabeth's mouth and let her drink the rest. "You don't believe me," Robert said.

"I don't," Rosalind said.

"But you'll still keep trying, won't you?" Robert asked quietly.

She looked to him curiously. She usually knew exactly what it was he was thinking but now as she locked eyes with him, she was completely lost. Was he worried that she would get rid of Elizabeth? Perhaps he would leave if she did so. Despite what they'd been through... would he really just leave her? For a child, he'd known for 1 month?

"I've never given up on anything in my life." she said, "She'll stay with us, that much has been decided already." She set the empty cup down on the counter and sighed. She wasn't sure when Elizabeth had finished but the girl was asleep now.

"This won't be as easy as I thought it would be," he said finally.

"I'm aware," she said.

"What I mean is... You'll be tired. More so than I." he continued. Rosalind narrowed her eyes, what was his goal here? Did he want her to change her mind? "I just want you to understand that-"

"Robert, I've had more experience rearing children than you." she pointed out, "I believe it's you who does not understand what raising her will entail."

"I was going to say that no matter how bad it gets, we'll be here to help each other." he rolled his eyes.

"Now it's you who's getting sentimental." Rosalind smiled softly. Robert held his hand out to her and she blinked down at Elizabeth, "We can't-"

"We can." He said. She took his hand and he pulled her close. He was careful as he led them around the kitchen island in a waltz. "Her presence doesn't change anything," he said. And it did not. Rosalind was just as capable of dancing with one hand. "You're still one of the greatest minds in Columbia."

Despite everything he was saying, Rosalind still did not believe it. Or maybe she did. She knew it was possible, she just didn’t want to care for Elizabeth at all. She wondered if her feelings would change at all. They would have to, Elizabeth wasn’t going anywhere.

The child didn’t notice now, but she would notice Rosalind’s dislike for her when she grew older. Rosalind knew she needed to come to terms with the predicament before it got to that point. “I’m tired.” she pulled away from Robert, “Let’s go to bed.”

“Alright.” he said, “I’ll clean this up.”

Rosalind nodded and took Elizabeth up to her room. Rosalind set her down on the bed and change her into her nightgown. She knew she was being bitter but she could not help it.

She got ready for bed and curled up beside Elizabeth. Before she knew it, she was crying. She buried her face in her pillow and let herself cry. At one point she heard Robert knock on the door and call her name but she did not answer. She would deal with it all in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post-adoption depression comes from the parents not bonding with the child as expected or when they underestimate what it will be like to raise a child. For Rosalind, it comes from being forced into the situation as well as not bonding with Elizabeth like Robert has. If Robert can do it easily, why can't she?
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed the chapter.


	8. March 20th, 1894

March 20th, 1894

  
  


Robert had not left the house all week. He'd been excited to go to the meeting earlier in the week but Elizabeth's wailing had convinced Rosalind to leave them both home alone. He was not bitter about it, but he was growing restless.

Now they sat in the Music room together. Rosalind sat quietly and read a book while Elizabeth babbled softly to her teddy bear. Robert watched them both and sighed. They seemed content with the quiet but he was not. He was tired of the same 4 walls and needed to get out.

"Why don't we take a walk?" he suggested.

Rosalind looked up briefly from her book, her lips tugged downward and she looked back down. "Why?" she asked.

"You must be tired of sitting here," he said. Rosalind had not done any research today. She had cleaned and swept before sitting down to rest with Elizabeth. "We've been inside all morning."

"Which," she turned a page in her book, "Is not unusual for us."

"I was sick then," he said. He had not had a headache at all in the recent weeks and he was usually able to tell when something might cause a spell. Elizabeth's crying caused slight aching, but that was only because she usually wailed directly into his ear. "Didn't you say before that we couldn't keep her locked in here forever?"

"I did." she nodded.

"So why not?" he asked.

"No reason at all." Rosalind shrugged, "You may take her out if you want."

"Alone?"

"Yes." Rosalind said, "She's not fussy today. You'll be fine." He looked down at Elizabeth on the floor. This was the calmest she had been all week but... that was only because Rosalind sat calmly nearby. He couldn't take her away from Rosalind without her crying.

"She'll cry."

"She won't," Rosalind said.

"How can you be sure?"

"I can't," Rosalind admitted. She finally closed her book and placed it on the table, "But I know that I don't want to go out today. If she cries too much, bring her back."

"Come with us," Robert said.

"I suppose we should come up with a reason for her sudden appearance." Rosalind ignored him, "Should we tell them a family member died and left her care to us?"

"You'll have fun." he tried.

"Or that we decided to sponsor an orphan..." she shook her head, "They'll wonder why we chose a baby. They'll think she's mine." Rosalind frowned, "Go with the first one."

"What if they ask more questions?" he asked. The story would work fine. the people of Columbia would think highly of them for agreeing to care for Elizabeth. There might still be rumors that Rosalind was the mother, but Robert knew they wouldn't affect her. "What should I say?"

"Most people don't ask more when death is mentioned. They'll give their condolences and whisper among their friends." Rosalind said. "Take her blanket, just in case she gets too cold."

Robert stood and walked over to Elizabeth. She sat up and held up her arms, "Do you want to go out?" he asked her. She smiled and he picked her up, "We'll just take a short walk."

"No more than an hour." Rosalind said, "She hasn't had a nap."

"Could you help me get her ready?" he asked. Rosalind nodded and stood up.

She took Elizabeth from him, "I'll meet you downstairs." she said. Robert quickly found his coat and headed down into the drawing-room. They had not lit the fireplace as it was not as cold as the past month had been. Perhaps they were flying over the warmer states. He wasn't sure what Columbia's usual path was but he was happy for the change.

Rosalind entered the kitchen with Elizabeth. The girl now wore a jacket and a wool hat. "It's isn't that cold out," he said.

"She's small. It doesn't take much to freeze." Rosalind said. He was unsure of when Rosalind had acquired the winter clothing. Lady Comstock had only given her a few dresses and diapers and he would have noticed if she'd gone shopping for more clothing. "Don't let her pull the mittens off."

Elizabeth was already struggling to escape them when he picked her up. It all seemed like too much to wear, he would only be wearing a jacket. "One more thing." Rosalind said, "Buy a stroller. You'll get tired of carrying her around." She walked them to the door.

"One last chance." he smiled, "Join us?"

She smiled, "Don't stay out too long." she said. He let her be after that, choosing instead to focus on Elizabeth. Rosalind gave the girl a kiss on the forehead and rolled her eyes at his expression, "You know she'll cry if I don't. Go!" she nudged him towards the door.

Robert smiled back as he exited the house, “We’ll only stay out for an hour.” he said. Rosalind nodded and closed the door behind him. She was probably glad to finally have time to herself that didn’t involve work.

The change of scenery felt nice to him. The bustle of people moving through town was just the change he needed. Perhaps it was socializing that he missed. He hadn't spoken to anyone but Rosalind, Elizabeth, and Comstock. Only one of those people had been able to hold his interest.

Elizabeth was interesting, but she was only a baby. He was mostly talking to himself when he spoke with her. Rosalind was the only one keeping him sane. She proposed theories to him and listened when he added in his own thoughts. Two parts of a whole indeed. He was just happy that despite how much Elizabeth's presence was affecting Rosalind, it hadn't caused a rift between them.

He heard Elizabeth gasp as she looked around. Had she spent any time outside when she lived with the Comstock's? No one had seen her at all after the first week so it wasn't likely. She pointed ahead of them but Robert wasn't sure what it was she was seeing. "Why don't we go to Patriots Pride?" he asked her.

She nodded as if she understood and began babbling again. She was doing that a lot lately. Constantly babbling. She cycled through 5 words now. It was surprising to him because she hadn't spoken any words at all until recently. Maybe it was Rosalind's constant talking that had helped her. She could say no, milk, mess, nap, and uh oh.

They were words he and Rosalind said the most. He offered her milk daily, Rosalind scolded her for making a mess, he said 'uh oh' whenever she knocked something over and Rosalind always announced nap time as if it were required of all of them. Elizabeth had learned quickly.

"Just don't tell Rosalind," he said. She indulged his sweet tooth but she did not like it when he gave Elizabeth too many sweets. They still argued about the amount of honey he put in her milk.

Robert made his way to the confectionery slowly. There was no need to rush now, he'd told Rosalind he'd only be gone an hour but with as nice as it was, he might spend several moments just taking in the sights. He had to remember that there were several versions of himself that had chosen to continue whispering through the walls of the universe. They hadn't made the leap into another world as he had. He was lucky to have this experience and he would enjoy it while he still could.

He was always curious about the way his life had turned out in other worlds. He knew that there were a few where it was he and not Rosalind who raised a city into the sky. Did he bring her to him then? Or maybe there was a world where he ignored the subtle flickering of the particle and never spoke with Rosalind at all.

"Uh oh..." he looked down at Elizabeth. She was pointing at a boy who had gotten mustard on his jacket.

The boy's mother scolded him for being so messy and it drew strange parallels to Rosalind scolding Elizabeth for pouring her milk on the floor.

He arrived at the Patriots pride shop rather quickly and stood by as a group of children ran from the store. "Let's find something for Rosalind," he said. Their tastes were so different that he couldn't be sure what she liked. In the beginning, when he had finally been strong enough to wander the house without Rosalind, he had searched for chocolates. He had found none and Rosalind had told him that she didn't really like them.

"Good day, Mister Lutece." the shop owner took notice to Elizabeth immediately, "And good day, miss."

"Good day." Robert gave a small nod, "My sister has been rather stressed lately, I'd like to buy her a gift." He supposed that the word stressed was an understatement. He had heard her cry after going to bed several times now. He didn't need to ask the reason. It was clear that she had yet to accept the fact that Elizabeth would be staying with them for good.

"Of course!" the owner nodded. His name was Calvin Porter and from what Robert understood, he had been making candies and sweets since he was a teenager. Comstock had purchased from his stand once and deemed it of the utmost importance to have the delicacies in Columbia.

Mr. Porter came from behind the counter, "What does she like?"

"Milk!" Elizabeth answered.

"Milk?" Mr. Porter looked at Elizabeth and the young girl nodded.

"No. She likes hard candies." Robert clarified, "Not peppermint though." He knew of her dislike of peppermint through her own memories. Despite the fact that he hadn't been looking, the thought came forward. Rosalind did not like peppermint.

"We've got an assortment here." Mr. Porter led him to a wall of colored candies. There were so many options, raspberry, butterscotch, caramel...

Elizabeth wiggled to be put down and he set her down without a thought. She lingered near his legs and pulled at his shoelaces. "She likes peaches..." he said slowly, "Do you have any of that flavor?"

"I do." Robert followed him to the orange candies on the wall, "Made with real peaches so the flavor is almost the same."

"Excellent." he nodded, "I'd like half a pound of those... and half of the lemon as well."

Mr. Porter began to fill a candy tin with the chosen flavors. He dusted them lightly with powdered sugar before sealing it completely. "Anything for the little angel?" Mr. Porter asked.

Robert looked down to where he had left Elizabeth and gasped. She was gone... "Uh..." His eyes scanned the store and he found her standing near a box of cookies. She strained to reach them and whined when she couldn't. "Perhaps those," he said thoughtfully.

He retrieved Elizabeth and the box of cookies. She reached for them but he held them at a distance. Mr. Porter went to the register and totaled them up. Robert paid and left with a smile. "We definitely won't be telling her about the cookies," Robert said.

"No." Elizabeth agreed.

He had only walked a few feet before he realized that holding both Elizabeth and the candy was not easy. Not with Elizabeth's constant moving. She was only just beginning to find her balance and he knew she would prefer to be on the ground but he couldn't put her down. She had only just learned to walk without help and despite how often she did so, she was still unsteady and slow. They would never get anywhere if he let her attempt to walk.

"A stroller," he remembered. Rosalind had instructed him to get a stroller and it was just his luck that he was right outside of what looked to be a children's shop.

He headed inside and was pleased to see he was right. "Mister Lutece!" a woman gasped.

He recalled Rosalind telling him about the shopkeeper's wife, Isabel. "Ma'am." he smiled, "Perhaps you could help me?"

"Of course." she had been sewing a ripped bear but she quickly hid her work under the counter. "Madame Lutece was here just last month. Can I assume this is the little girl she bought those gifts for?"

"Yes." Robert nodded, "Um... I need a stroller."

Isabel nodded and looked over towards the baby carriages lining the wall. "How old is she?"

"15 months," Robert answered.

"She'll grow a lot this year." Isabel said, "I recommend this one." Isabel began explaining the uses of the stroller and how it would be good to use until she was almost 3 so long as she didn't outgrow it. She would not need one after that.

Robert examined the stroller fully. It was completely white and for some reason, he didn't like that. "Any other colors?" he asked.

"We have blue," Isabel said. Blue would match her blanket and her eyes. Robert nodded and Isabel went to retrieve the stroller for the back of the store. While she was gone, Robert looked over the cribs and toys.

If Elizabeth was going to stay with them, then she would need a bed. She would need more than just the one bear Rosalind had given her. More clothing, more diapers, more shoes. She would grow out of her dresses soon enough, should he think ahead? should he stop by the clothing store as well? Maybe he should buy her some books too. She could not read yet but perhaps she wanted to hear about something other than physics.

"How does this one look?" Isabel broke him from his thoughts, "My husband just finished building it yesterday."

Robert examined the pram in front of him. It was composed of mostly white wood but the carriage itself had royal bluebirds delicately weaved into it. The inside was lined with blue velvet and the cushion was soft to the touch. The hood of the carriage bent back and Isabel demonstrated how it opened and closed.

Robert pushed it back and forth and was satisfied with how smooth the wheels were. No squeaking and no wobbling.

"This one is good for a child her age. She might often fall asleep on walks." Isabel said, "She can sit up and lay back as she chooses. Plus, there's room for her to have her blankets and bear with her." Robert fell in love with the carriage immediately. So much work had gone into it and the colors were beautiful. "It's the only one of its type. My husband wanted to make something unique.

"I'm sure he'd prefer to use it a display then," Robert said. He could imagine flocks of mothers coming for a carriage such as this.

"I believe he'd want nothing more than to see it go to a good home." Isabel said, "He's already started making another."

"I'll take it," he said.

Isabel smiled and led them to the register. Robert placed Elizabeth in the pram and she laid back comfortably, a yawn breaking from her mouth. She was due for a nap as Rosalind had said. Perhaps he could let her sleep while he enjoyed the town a little more.

"One more thing actually," Robert said, "Unfortunately, her parents aren't here to care for her anymore." he paused for effect, "My sister had always said she would care for the child should something happen to her parents and that seems to be the case here."

"Oh, dear..." Isabel covered her mouth. She looked sad for the imaginary couple.

"We've nothing in our home to accommodate her, however." Robert continued, "No bed, no toys, nothing. Just the blanket and bear Rosalind purchased earlier. I have no children of my own, but you seem knowledgeable. What do you recommend?"

The floodgates opened and Isabel walked him through the store. She pointed out toys, from dolls to trains, she recommended a crib for Elizabeth. A highchair, a rocking chair, anything she could. Robert was unsure if it was something he would need or if she was just trying to sell things to him. Whatever the case, he purchased it all.

Her husband offered to have it delivered for a small fee and Robert agreed. "We can have it there by tomorrow," he said.

"Wonderful," Robert said. That would give him enough time to let Rosalind know exactly how much he'd just spent. That and he could figure out which room he would change into Elizabeth's new room.

With the treats and the pram, Robert left the store. Word had spread while he was inside the shop and he could see a few people had tried to gather to see if it was true. It was indeed Robert Lutece pushing a baby pram.

He paid them no mind as he waltzed through Emporia. They would whisper no matter what he told them if they weren't brave enough to come and speak with him, then he needn't bother explaining anything to them.

He spent another hour out and about with Elizabeth pointing out everything she saw. A few people did speak with him eventually and he told them the hastily constructed story. Word would spread easily and Rosalind would not have to explain a thing if she ever decided to take Elizabeth out on her own.

Elizabeth whined in the carriage and he looked down. She looked tired and yet she fought sleep. Her head dipped as she attempted to stay awake. Was she really incapable of sleeping without Rosalind nearby? "Time to go home." he told her, "Are you ready to see Rosalind?"

Elizabeth visibly brightened at the sound of her name. Yes, she was ready to go back to Rosalind. Robert already knew that Rosalind would hold her close and slowly walk around the room. Rosalind would run her fingers through Elizabeth's hair and Elizabeth would ease off into sleep quickly. And after, Rosalind would pretend that she had no feelings for the child at all.

He knew that she did not love Elizabeth the same way he did, but he also knew that she did hold some positive feelings for the girl. He could see it in the looks she gave Elizabeth when she thought he wasn’t looking.

Robert wondered if she was actually against having children or if she was only against it because everyone had decided it was something she needed to do. He would never understand that notion. No one had ever expected him to stop working and start a family. He was expected to do both.

Still, he knew that it had never been that way for Rosalind. Even as a child she had been forced to care for children. It did not seem fair when he thought about it. She always seemed to be forced into the role of caretaker. By their mother, by Comstock, and even by him.

“Of course...” he sighed. It all made sense to him now. Rosalind felt as if she no longer had the control that she had fought for her entire life. He wasn’t sure how he could restore that sense of control to her. Elizabeth would be with them until she grew up and moved away.

They made it home and Rosalind met them at the door. Elizabeth yawned Rosalind lifted her from the carriage. “Did you have fun?” she asked him.

“We did.” he nodded, “We visited a few shops and I even purchased a few things for her room."

“She doesn’t have a room,” Rosalind said. Robert looked away, he had not asked her how she felt about the decision. It would be necessary but still… This was part of why she was so upset all the time.

“Not yet.” he said slowly, “But she needs one. She isn’t going anywhere and I know you’d like to have your room back.”

“Hm.” Rosalind’s face showed no emotion but he could feel her anger rising. He should have asked her first. “Dinner is ready, we can talk after we eat.”

“I can put Elizabeth to bed,” he said.

“She needs to eat first,” Rosalind said.

“I can do that.”

“Robert,” she looked as if she were annoyed for a moment before her face slipped back into its usual impassive look, “It’s fine, I already set the table. Just have a seat, we’ll join you in a moment.”

“Alright,” he nodded and took off his jacket. He needed to think of a way to apologize to her. He had been thinking about Elizabeth’s well being and had completely disregarded Rosalind in the process. He needed to do better if this was going to work. After today, there would be no more surprises. He would talk to Rosalind before he made any more decisions when it came to Elizabeth. Hopefully, that would be enough to fix what he’d already done.


	9. June 4th, 1894

June 4th, 1894

  
  


The summer came quickly and Rosalind found that even though she had completely adjusted to Elizabeth staying with them, she still did not like it.

Robert had completely remade her study into a room for Elizabeth but the girl refused to sleep there. In the months since he had done so, she had done nothing but scream and cry until Rosalind agreed to let her sleep with her again. "All that money spent for nothing." she sighed. Elizabeth was fine playing in the room while Rosalind or Robert were there researching, but she refused to be left alone there.

When Robert had first shown Elizabeth the room, she'd stumbled about curiously. She climbed, she grabbed, she played with the toys he'd set out. But she refused to sleep there.

The first night Rosalind had attempted to put her to bed, she had cried until Rosalind had allowed her to sleep with her. Rosalind couldn’t understand it. The bed was comfortable and large enough for her. She had her teddy bear in there as well. Was it too dark?

They left the desk lamp on during the second night but the same thing had occurred. Robert had been sure that she would eventually stop and sleep but it never happened. She slept with Rosalind then too. “Let’s wait until she falls asleep with you, then we’ll put her in her bed,” Robert suggested.

That plan was unsuccessful as well. Robert had put her to sleep and slowly set her in the crib. They had thought it a success until he closed the door and the wailing began. That was how Rosalind ended up still sharing a room with Elizabeth 3 months later. Once she had pushed the crib inside, Elizabeth slept easily. "Small steps," Robert said. At least they were no longer sharing a bed.

And thus her study was now a partial playroom. It worked well enough for Rosalind, she and Robert could get plenty of work done and Elizabeth had everything she needed to keep her busy. Everything was working much better than she had thought it would.

Rosalind sat alone in the drawing-room as she waited for Robert and Elizabeth to return. He took her on walks almost every day after dinner and when they returned, she was usually tired enough to go right to sleep. "So you don't have to rock her to sleep anymore," he said.

Though she liked doing it, Elizabeth was getting bigger and heavier. In just 4 months, she had grown a lot. It made her wonder if Elizabeth was being fed correctly when she lived with Comstock. Perhaps he had been just as neglectful as his alter ego was.

"Are you feeling better now?" Robert asked.

"What do you mean?" Rosalind looked at him.

"You haven't been yourself since she arrived." He said, "I figured by doing all of this, it would help." Giving Elizabeth her own room, taking her on several walks so that she wouldn't have to rock her to sleep constantly. Rosalind would agree that it was all very helpful even if only half of his plan had worked.

But nothing would be better than getting rid of Elizabeth. Despite caring for the child for 4 months now, she still did not feel anything for her. She still had no desire to be a parent to Elizabeth and she wasn't sure how she could tell Robert that.

He seemed to love Elizabeth as if she were his own child but Rosalind felt no connection at all. "Is it helping?" he asked.

"It is." she nodded.

"It doesn't look like it." Robert sat down beside her, "You still look tired. Is she still keeping you awake?"

"Not as often," Rosalind said.

"Then what is it?" Robert asked, "Do you hate her presence that much?"

"I don't hate her at all." Rosalind said, "I just hate that I had no choice in anything that has occurred in the past few months."

"You have-"

"I didn't. You wouldn't have stayed if I didn't allow Elizabeth to stay. You decided to redesign the study without asking me because you knew I would not agree." She said.

"Is it really so bad that she's here?" Robert asked.

"She's completely changed everything," Rosalind said. She couldn't go out without hearing people whisper about her. They talked about how little she was seen with Elizabeth, about how she was a terrible mother. These strangers picked apart every part of her and treated Robert as if he were somehow better because he took Elizabeth out for a walk.

"For now." Robert agreed.

"You would not be saying that if you knew how they all look at me now." she said, "It's as if everything I did before no longer matters." She had raised this city into the sky and now she was treated as an outcast because she took her walks alone.

"It's only because they don't know how much you do for her," Robert said.

"That shouldn't matter." she said, "Obviously the child is doing fine. They've all created a narrative in their heads about me and there's nothing that can change that."

"We'll be going for another walk." Robert sighed, "Why don't you come along?"

It would be for the best if she went with them but she shook her head, "I'll make dinner." she said, "Just feed her before you go."

She stared at the door long after it closed and sighed to herself. It would dispel a lot of rumors if she just went for a walk once or twice with them. She was probably making the situation more difficult than it was by acting this way.

The door opened again and Comstock stepped inside. She should have locked it the moment they left. "Lutece?" he called out to her. Rosalind frowned and put her book down as he wandered into their home. There was no privacy when it came to Comstock.

"You'd like to use the machine?" she guessed.

"No." he shook his head. Then why was he here? "I'm here to talk about Elizabeth."

Rosalind narrowed her eyes but let him continue, "You plan to keep her?" he asked.

"What else would we do with her?" she asked, "Now that you've killed her off."

"I want to be sure." Comstock said, "You can send her back, can't you?" She could and in the beginning, she had thought about it several times. "People have begun to talk, I want to help you."

"Help me?" she asked.

"I'm releasing you from your burdens." he said, "Now that I'll have my son, you can send her back." Had he actually believed she had been waiting for his permission to send the girl back.

"I'm keeping her," Rosalind said simply.

"Oh?" Comstock was surprised, "Why?"

"My brother has grown quite fond of her," Rosalind said with a shrug. And that was the only reason that she allowed the child to stay in her home.

"I never took you as the family type." Comstock said, "You've turned down every suitor that comes your way."

"I'm not," she said. She never wanted to marry and have children. Comstock stood and stared at her before chuckling.

"You're a strange woman." he shook his head, "You claim to not want a family and yet you found another version of yourself so you can have a brother. And now you're raising a child? What do you call that?"

"Compromise," she answered. She had agreed to let Elizabeth stay only because she knew Robert would leave if she attempted to send the girl away. She had grown slightly fond of the child but not as much as Robert had expected her to.

Comstock didn't need to know that. "I see..." he scratched his graying beard. In the months since Elizabeth's arrival, a lot of his hair had started to gray at the roots. "So how about a photoshoot then?" he suggested.

"For what?" Rosalind forced herself to remain passive. Comstock was always ready for videos and pictures to be taken but she didn't care for it at all.

"The citizens will want to know that Rosalind Lutece officially has an heir." Comstock smiled. Rosalind could already tell how draining that would be for her. They couldn't keep Elizabeth presentable for more than a few moments. She was always pulling at the laces on her dress, or spilling milk, or even just trying to escape from her clothing in general.

"Fine." she agreed. She would take pictures if only to get rid of him.

Comstock lingered for a moment, glancing around at the blocks scattered on the floor. He cleared his throat and nodded, "She would be better with you here than with that sinner." he said.

Rosalind was not sure why Comstock acted as if Booker Dewitt was someone completely different. The crimes he committed as Booker Dewitt were not even a full decade in the past. "Right. Thank you," she said with a nod. Despite how much she disliked it, Elizabeth would be better off with her than with Comstock.

He bid her goodbye and she watched as he left. She tried to sit and relax but she couldn't. Why was she suddenly thinking about Booker Dewitt? The drunk man who had sold his child... "He changed his mind..." she sucked in a breath. That had not mattered to her before now. Was it possible that the experience would help him be a better father if Elizabeth was returned to him?

It was not something that was going to happen. Robert would never agree to it. But she still wanted to check on the man anyway.

Rosalind traveled from room to room, turning on the generators as she went. She was meant to be cooking something for dinner and yet... this was an itch she couldn't scratch.

She hadn't paid much attention to Booker Dewitt then. She had been so focused on getting Robert to make the journey that she had ignored the desperate struggle between Comstock and Dewitt. The man wanted his child back and Comstock had taken her anyway.

One thought of how Elizabeth looked then should have been enough. She had been pale and skinny. Wrapped in a thin blanket that had not been washed ever. Rosalind remembered the smell of alcohol as she put pressure on the girls bleeding finger. Comstock had taken her away and Rosalind had focused completely on Robert after that.

Booker Dewitt had not been a good father to her in the few months that he'd had her. There was always the possibility that he could have changed, in fact she was sure that there was a world where he did. But would this Booker have changed in time? Or would the girl have wasted away? Would he be a better father if they returned her now? Was it even right for them to keep her?

She'd never wrestled with the morality of it at all. But she needed to see now. She needed proof that she'd made the right choice. "And if you didn't?" she asked herself. The choice was either to keep Elizabeth and Robert or lose them both.

What would she do with the information? If Booker was somehow different now, would she tell Robert? Would Robert want to make things right and send her home? Or maybe she needed to be given back before Booker could begin to change.

With all generators on, she went back to the machine. She had only opened a tear to a specific point once. The rest were just guesses. On the night that Robert and Elizabeth came to Columbia. She had needed Robert on the other side to produce the tear but maybe... She just needed to see.

She repeated the steps she had so many months ago and waited. Robert could be back at any moment...

Rosalind pulled the lever and held her breath as she felt the tingle of the universe splitting so close to her. The feeling usually brought nothing but pride and intrigue but it was different now. She felt nothing but worry as the tear opened. The gray window opened slowly and she released her breath.

Booker Dewitt sat at his desk, slumped over it and seemingly unconscious. It was much like Robert described it. Alcohol bottles littering the floor, crumpled pieces of paper, and mice scattering about. No place for a child.

Rosalind swallowed as Booker shifted and moaned. He opened his eyes for a moment and blinked at the tear. "Hey..." he squinted his eyes. "Hey... Hey I know you..."

She didn't respond, instead, she waited with her hand on the lever. "You took her, you're one of them." he slurred. He didn't move from his seat, instead he picked up a bottle from the floor and took a long swing. "Through that hole..."

She waited for a long time before sighing, "Do you want her back, Mr. Dewitt?" she asked.

"Want her... back?" he frowned. It seemed as if he hadn't even considered that she could ever return to him. He put the bottle down and stood.

He stumbled a bit before finding his balance and moving closer to the tear, "Give her back..." he was angry but the amount of alcohol he'd ingested kept him from getting to her before she closed the tear. Was that even the same Booker they'd taken her from?

She stepped away from the contraption and turned around. In the doorway stood Robert and Elizabeth.

"Why did you open that tear?" he asked calmly. He stared into her soul and she found herself hesitant to even answer.

"I was just looking," she said.

"why?" he asked.

"Why not?" she responded.

"No." He shook his head, "Don't do that. Why would you open a tear...to him?" She could see the anger in his eyes even though his face remained calm.

"I wanted to see if he'd changed," she said truthfully.

"And if he had?" Robert asked, "What then?"

She had not planned that far ahead because she had known that she wouldn't need to. Well, she'd theorized it at least, she'd needed visual proof to ease the guilt in her chest. "I don't know," she admitted.

"We agreed to keep her," he said. She could see his knuckles tightening on the handle of Elizabeth's pram. "If I had left her here with you... You would have sent her back." He wasn't asking her, he was stating it as if it were fact.

"No." Rosalind shook her head, "You know I wouldn't have-"

"What? You would have opened a tear to him, shown him his child, and closed it?" Robert asked. He reminded her of their mother when he was angry. He spoke fast and was not willing to listen at all. She knew immediately that there was no way she was going to be able to explain herself until he calmed down.

"Is she asleep?" she asked.

"She is." he nodded, "She wanted to see you but couldn't stay awake."

"I'll put her to bed then," Rosalind said. She could see how reluctant Robert was to let her take Elizabeth but he said nothing as she lifted the child from the carriage and took her up into the bedroom. She changed Elizabeth into her gown quickly and placed her in her crib.

Robert was in his room by the time she finished and Rosalind wondered how she would make him understand...


	10. June 5th, 1894

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back from my underway. I will try to get to a normal schedule again. Please leave a review :)

June 5th, 1894

He had not rested well at all. Rosalind's action weighed heavily on his mind and he could not push the thoughts away.

He was not certain of anything at all anymore and he did not know what to do? Would Rosalind have given Elizabeth back to Booker had she been left alone with her? He knew that Elizabeth's presence was causing a great deal of stress for Rosalind but he liked to think she would think before doing something so drastic.

Maybe he should have let her speak last night, then he would understand her actions. He was a little harsh but he had been angry. Now as he thought more about it, he wondered if he had any right to be.

He sighed heavily and sat up. He needed to talk with Rosalind now. The sooner he did so, the sooner he could understand why she had done what she had.

She was waiting in the kitchen for him he finally left his room. She did not meet his gaze as she usually did, instead, she looked down at her tea. "Good morning." she said, "I made tea."

"I can see that." he did not mean to sound so bitter but Rosalind frown anyway, "Where's Elizabeth?"

"She's still asleep," Rosalind said.

"Still?" Robert sat down in front of her and began preparing himself a cup of tea.

"She's usually still asleep." Rosalind said, "She has a glass of warm milk and sleeps for another hour." Robert sat down, he was up earlier than usual so it made sense.

"Did she sleep alright?" he asked.

"She did." Rosalind nodded, "She's been sleeping through the night for the past few weeks."

He wanted to ask her more about Elizabeth's sleep schedule. He knew the child woke early because Rosalind always complained about that. He did not know much about Elizabeth's sleep habits. "I'm sure the walk through the gardens tired her out."

They sipped their tea quietly and Robert found himself watching Rosalind. She did not look upset but she was usually good at hiding how she felt. It was he who could not control his responses.

"I was not planning to give her back," Rosalind said once she noticed him staring.

"Then why did you open that tear?" he asked.

"Comstock came to visit after you left." Rosalind said, "He told me that I didn't have to keep her any longer." Rosalind looked at the sliced lemon, "I told him that we would be keeping her and he suggested a photoshoot."

"A photoshoot?" Robert was not sure what any of that had to do with anything.

"Yes." Rosalind nodded, "Before he left, he told me that Elizabeth was better off with us than with her actual father."

"She is," he said.

"Robert," Rosalind set her cup down, "How would you know?"

He had to remind himself that Rosalind had not stepped into Booker's apartment that day. She had not smelled the air there, she had not seen the empty beer bottles. She didn't look at Booker Dewitt as he handed over his only child. "Booker was a broken man." he said, "I believe he loved his daughter, but he's too saddled with addiction to ever properly care for her. He wasn't doing so then and I doubt he'll suddenly change now."

"I'm aware that she might not have made it if we hadn't taken her." Rosalind said with a nod, "But that was then and this is now. I didn't want to tell myself that he was still as miserable as he was before without seeing it."

"And did you?" he asked. If Rosalind had finally seen what he had seen so long ago, then they could put this behind them.

"He might even be worse now than he was before." Rosalind said, "His child disappearing through a tear was not something he had been prepared for. Even if he were on the path to being a better man before he sold his child, seeing the tear and losing her probably caused a sort of relapse."

"Rosalind..." he stopped her. He knew that she would get too deep into her thoughts

She cleared her throat, "I believe that giving him his child back would be enough to put him back on that path."

"This isn't an experiment," he said, "It's not something I care to risk." If they returned Elizabeth and Booker neglected her again, they could not get her back.

"I know that." Rosalind said, "As I said before, I was not going to give her back."

"And what if he had changed?" Robert asked, "You made the decision not to give her back after you saw him." He didn't want to know the answer to that. He could not justify keeping Elizabeth if her father was able to care for her.

"Whether you believe it or not, Elizabeth was not on my mind at all when I opened that tear." Rosalind said, "I was aware that he might not have changed at all but I still wanted to see that for myself. I needed to see if my theory was correct."

He had always seen everything as an experiment. He knew Rosalind had not differed from him in that way. Everything in their life was an experiment and up until now, he had been fine with that. But this was Elizabeth, she was a child and she should be treated as such.

"Do..." he paused and looked at her again, "Do you care for her at all?"

"Why does that matter?" she asked.

"Do you?" he asked.

"I do." Rosalind said, "Just not as much as you want me to."

He had always known that Rosalind did not have any motherly feelings for Elizabeth. He had foolishly believed that more time with her would change her view but he was wrong. Rosalind had no dreams of ever being a parent and Elizabeth was everything she did not want.

"She loves you." he said quietly, "More than she loves me."

"For now." Rosalind said, "She'll change eventually and it will be you she leans on."

"Don't you see how that will become a problem?" He snapped, "Do you want her to end up like you?"

"Excuse me?" she looked shocked for a moment, "There's nothing wrong with me."

"You know I didn't mean it that way

"Then what did you mean?" she asked.

"You told me how terrible you felt when you realized that your mother did not want you. How you always tried to please her and it was never enough." Robert said. Rosalind had told him a lot about how different their mothers were. She had longed for a son and had not been granted that in every world where she existed.

"I did," Rosalind said, "But that has nothing to do with this."

"I know you don't want to be a parent but I do. If you don't want to do this, then I'll-"

"You'll what?" she stood, "You'll leave?

"It would be for the best wouldn't it?" he did not want to leave. He wanted to stay with Rosalind and Elizabeth as they had been for the past few months.

"Stop acting as if you're doing any of this because you want what's best for her." Rosalind said, "You know the only reason you want to keep her is because you aren't sure if you'll ever get the chance to have your own child. Please drop the pretense of you being so good and noble. You're just as selfish as I am."

"I..." he had no response. She was not wrong at all but he hadn't tried to look deeper into why he wanted to keep Elizabeth. Keeping her safe was a good enough reason that he never considered why he had been so eager to keep her in the first place.

"Do you think I don't know how unlucky you've been in your love life? I'm well aware of how badly you want a family and how afraid you are that it won't happen." she crossed her arms and took a deep breath, "Do you want to keep her because you care for her? Or is it because she's the closest you'll ever be to having a child of your own?"

"Don't make this about me." he clenched his jaw.

"Why not?" she asked, "You were fine with attacking my character because of how I've responded to this situation I was forced into. Why can't I do the same."

"It's different. You're distant with her because you don't love her."

"You don't love her either!" she shouted, "You don't even know her."

"Calm down." he put his hands up.

"No." She shook her head, "You were the one person who understood me and now that's all changed because of a baby? One that isn't even yours. You didn't care about her at all until she was dropped on our doorstep."

"I know I didn't." he sighed, "My reasons were selfish in the beginning but it's changed. I do love her as if she were my own child. If you don't like that, then I don't see why you'd be so resistant to us moving away. I would still come to visit and we could still work together. You just wouldn't have to deal with Elizabeth anymore."

"That's not what I want," she said finally.

"Then what do you want?" he asked. He didn't understand at all.

"I want your help. You promised me that if we kept her, you would help me. That it would be the two of us." Rosalind sat down, "You said that I wouldn't have to do this alone."

"You aren't doing this alone," he said.

"I am." she said, "I do most of the work when it comes to her. I give her baths, I put her to sleep, I make most of her meals. She doesn't wake you up at 2 in the morning every day. She doesn't pull your hair until you have a headache. All you do is play with her."

"I've tried doing putting her to sleep, she prefers you," he argued.

"Only because you don't know what you're doing." Rosalind rubbed her temples, "She doesn't like when you rock her to sleep because you rock her too fast. You bounce her too much when she cries and it only makes her more upset. You give her sweets until she's sick and fussy and then you leave her to me to handle."

"Why didn't you say that then?" he asked, "If you were having so much trouble, why didn't you just tell me?" But he knew why. While they had barely been together a full year, they had not needed to say much to each other because they always seemed to be on the same page. he always knew what she was thinking and she seemed to know how he felt before he did. That seemed to change with the arrival of Elizabeth. He realized now that it was tearing them apart.

To make matters worse, he could not say that he had done the best he could when it came to Elizabeth. He had left most of it to Rosalind and had even been jealous that Elizabeth liked her more.

"I don't want either of you to leave." Rosalind said, "But I need a break..."

"From us?" he asked.

"From work, from parenting... all of it." she looked as if she wanted to cry but he knew her well enough to know that she would hold it back until she was away from him. "I know you weren't prepared to be a father but I wasn't prepared to be a mother. I had prior experience but it's not as easy as it was then. I know I should come to terms with it, but it isn't as easy as you make it seem."

"I..." he cleared his throat, "I haven't been trying hard enough." he would admit that. He hadn't realized how much stress it was causing her. Even when he heard her crying at night, he had let it be because he assumed that she would come to him when she was ready. That was what he had always done and he assumed that she was the same.

"We're... we are not as alike as I thought we were." he said, "Elizabeth moving in has shown me that. I'm sorry for leaving this all to you. It isn't fair and I think you're right. You do need a break."

"But that won't happen." Rosalind bit her lip. It wasn't every day that he could feel her emotions but at this moment he could feel everything. His head pounded as he was flooded with feelings of sadness and anger.

"You can," he said. Why was this happening? He had not tried to look at her memories but the feelings were strong.

"No, Robert. You've shown me that can't." she said, "You don't know how to care for her and you won't be able to juggle both work and Elizabeth if I'm not here."

"You can." he said again, "Even if it's just for one day."

"Robert?" she was by his side suddenly, "How do you feel?"

"Just a headache." he strained.

"Your nose is bleeding." she tipped his head back and pressed a cloth to his nose, "We can have this conversation later."

"We can have it now." he tried.

"Robert, you could have another spell." she sighed, "We can wait."

But he didn't want to let the conversation drop. Not after everything she had just told him. "I'm sorry." he closed his eyes. It seemed that she would not get her break today. She would most likely end up caring for both he and Elizabeth now.

Rosalind said nothing as she helped him to his feet. "What caused it?" she asked quietly. He couldn't tell her that her emotions were too overwhelming for him. She didn't need to blame herself for this.

"I don't know..." he stumbled up the stairs and groaned as she pushed him into bed, "I'll make it up to you..." HE had to. If he didn't she would be destroyed.

Elizabeth began crying and he could feel that she was starting to get stressed already. "I'll be fine. You can-"

"She'll be fine." Rosalind said, "She's already eaten, she just doesn't want to be in her crib." But Elizabeth's wailing grew louder until Rosalind sighed and retrieved her. Robert watched as she came back and sat beside him with Elizabeth in her arms, "What I said today, just forget it. Please." Rosalind said.

"Rosalind-"

"No. It's okay." she shook her head, "I can handle it, I was just upset." But he knew that wasn't true. She was reaching her limits and she was afraid that if he were as stressed as she was, he would have more episodes like this. "Just rest, we'll talk later."

He didn't argue. He didn't have the energy to. Instead, he closed his eyes and listened to her speak. She spoke of her plans for the day and the meeting she would attend on Friday. He fell asleep thinking of how he could make it up to her.


	11. June 20th, 1894

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving everyone :)

June 20th, 1894

2 weeks had gone by and they had barely spoken to each other if it didn’t pertain to work or Elizabeth. Robert spoke to her even less than she spoke to him and it was crushing her.

Not only that, but Robert was not wrong. She was doing it without realizing it. She was turning into her mother. Her mother had dismissed her at every opportunity once she was old enough to feed and bathe herself.

If Robert had not said anything, Rosalind was sure her anger would have grown until she was a replica of her mother. Still, in some ways, it was not her fault. She had not asked for a child and now she had been forced to have one. But then Elizabeth was only in Columbia because she had wanted to meet Robert. If she hadn’t needed Comstock’s money, she would have never known the child existed.

Rosalind looked over at Elizabeth as she absently picked at the threads on the teddy bear. She was not aware of the strife she had caused and it would most likely remain that way.

Elizabeth noticed her watching and smiled. Rosalind smiled back and closed her eyes. She could not be mad at Elizabeth for simply existing. She was only present in their home because of Rosalind.

She listened as Elizabeth walked over and opened her eyes. Elizabeth stood by the desk and stared up at her. “What do you need?” she asked.

Elizabeth looked thoughtful for a moment before taking a breath and babbling. Rosalind lifted the child onto her lap and let her speak. She still did not understand a word of what was being said. Robert claimed that she could say several words but Rosalind only ever heard her say three of them and none of them were pronounced correctly.

“Rosie?” Elizabeth pronounced it as ‘Wozy’. Occasionally Rosalind found that to be cute but most times she found it to be annoying. Was Elizabeth even trying to pronounce it correctly? None of the children she’d cared for had ever tried to say her name. She still didn’t know if Elizabeth was ahead or behind when it came to speech.

“Rosie!” Elizabeth called again.

“Yes?” Rosalind looked at her again.

Elizabeth continued to tell a story once she was certain that Rosalind was still paying attention. Rosalind sighed. It wasn’t fair for a child to grow up with someone who did not care for her. Could she ever give Elizabeth the love she deserved? Would it be enough for her to have Robert doting on her?

It hadn’t been enough for her. Her father had been a busy man and had not had much time for her. When he was around, he spoiled her rotten. Whatever she wanted he would provide. But her mother had been with her all day and every day. It had affected her more than she would have liked to admit.

Rosalind knew that both she and Robert were busy people. They had a lot of work to do if they wanted to keep funding from Comstock. As she grew older, she would be left alone a lot.

Elizabeth yawned and leaned back, “It’s time for a nap.” Rosalind said. Elizabeth shook her head but did not try to get away as she usually did. “Just for a moment.” Rosalind stood and set Elizabeth on the floor. The child whined and Rosalind could tell she was only tired.

She led Elizabeth to her room and frowned at the number of teddy bears in her crib. She moved them to the side before picking Elizabeth up again.

“Robbie?” Elizabeth looked towards his closed door. She had not seen Robert yet today and wondered if he would come out of his room at all today.

“I’m sure he’ll be awake before dinner,” Rosalind said. She was sure he was awake now. He was avoiding her just as she was avoiding him. Rosalind knew that he would open his door the moment she closed hers and she was tired of it.

Their conversation had ended with nothing but apologies from him but he had not said much to her since. She was desperate to know what he was thinking now. She regretted most of what she said to him and if he would allow himself to be in her presence for more than a few seconds, she would apologize until she could no longer speak.

Elizabeth’s soft breathing on her neck reminded her that she was meant to be putting the child to sleep. Elizabeth had done that on her own and Rosalind sighed as she laid her down in her crib.

She left the door cracked and went to the music room. It seemed that Robert had been here at some point.

Rosalind turned on a record and sat on the couch. She did not want to live like this any longer but she wasn’t sure how she could fix it.

She grabbed a pillow and hugged it close as she looked at what Robert had been reading. Books about children it seemed. Clearly, Robert was trying to learn but Rosalind would not consider a book written by Comstock, a man who had never raised a child, as a good resource.

“Ah, there you are.” She heard Robert enter the room but did not look at him.

“Were you sitting here?” she asked.

“I was,” Robert sat next to her and picked up the book again. She wasn’t sure why she felt she needed to leave. Robert had not said anything hostile to her but she could not shake the feeling that he did not want her there.

“Did you have lunch?” she asked.

“I did.” he said, “I went for a walk and found a nice restaurant.” She hadn’t even realized that he had left at all. She had been too wrapped up in her thoughts about their fight.

“Oh.” she felt herself squeezing the pillow tightly.

“Do you want me to leave?” he asked quietly.

“No.” she found herself whispering, “Never.” She heard him let out a breath and she looked at him. He seemed to be just as worried as she was.

“I wasn’t sure.” he admitted, “We’ve barely spoken to each other since...”

“Because you keep hiding,” she said.

“It’s not that.” he shook his head, “I’ve had terrible headaches since our talk and I didn’t want you to worry about both me and Elizabeth.” Rosalind frowned and looked away. Once she was sure he wouldn’t start hemorrhaging, she had left him alone.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. The silence lingered and she took a breath. The record had finished and now there wasn’t even music to fill the room.

“I don’t think she needs this many toys,” Robert said suddenly. Rosalind was glad for the change in subject. She never wanted to talk about that night anymore.

“Then stop buying her so many,” Rosalind suggested.

“I haven’t purchased any at all.” Robert said, “It’s you who needs to stop.”

Rosalind looked at him again. His eyes were focused on the stack of blocks near the piano. “I haven’t purchased any since she first came to stay with us.” She said.

“Then why are there so many?” Robert asked. She had not really noticed until he pointed it out. Rosalind had only purchased one teddy bear and Robert had purchased another one as well as the set of blocks that she was looking at now.

So where had all of the dolls and toy cars come from? Was she finding them during their walks in town? Surely Robert would have noticed that.

“I… Don’t know.” She said slowly.

“They had to have come from somewhere.” Robert said, “Perhaps the machine?”

“We haven’t used it in over a month.” Technically, she had used it on her own just 2 weeks prior but she didn’t want to mention the tear again. She was still afraid of another argument. She wondered if their relationship would ever be repaired.

“Then what?” he didn’t seem annoyed, just curious. “Maybe someone has been leaving gifts for Elizabeth?”

“Who would do that?” Rosalind asked. Besides Robert’s walks in town, Elizabeth was rarely seen. She was not the ‘Miracle Child’ any longer so no one actually cared about her. She was only mentioned in passing.

“No one, I suppose.” He shrugged, “Where is she?”

“She’s asleep,” Rosalind said. Now that she thought about it, Elizabeth had been asleep for most of the day. She had only been awake for an hour before Rosalind put her down for another nap She didn’t have a fever and Rosalind was not sure if she needed to be concerned or not.

“Then we have time to talk.” Robert cleared his throat.

“About?” She didn’t think she could squeeze the pillow any tighter. Why couldn’t he just let this go?

“Our conversation was cut short last time.” Robert said, “I don’t want you to think that I’ve forgotten.”

“Please, just forget it.” She sighed. She wanted things to go back to normal. Back to before she had opened the tear and she could hold a full conversation with him without feeling guilty.

“No.” he shook his head, “You said you needed a break and I think it’s time you took one.”

“There’s nowhere to go.” She reminded him, “There’s nothing to do and I like being here.” And she hated being alone. Maybe she should be grateful that Elizabeth was there to keep her company. At least then she would never worry about being alone. She wondered if that was one of the reasons Robert had wanted to keep Elizabeth. It seemed as if it weren’t enough that they had each other.

“I don’t want you to cry anymore.” Robert leaned back and sighed, “You haven’t had a moment to relax since and I’m worried.”

“About what?”

“Stop making this so hard.” He sighed, “You’re tired, I know it and you do too.”

“The alternative would be to make you as weary as I am,” Rosalind said. Looking at him now, he still seemed tired. He had not recovered from his spell and she didn’t know why he was suggesting this at all.

“The alternative is that we do this together.” Robert said, “Like I promised we would in the beginning.” Rosalind was not sure how he expected to do this. Even in the weeks that had passed he had been unsuccessful at calming Elizabeth. He had only managed to get her to sleep 2 times.

She must have looked unsure because he took her hand and squeezed it gently. “Listen to me, I want to be better. For you. I was wrong to force all of this upon you and if you’re still willing to keep her then I’ll make sure to do my share.”

“And if I’m not?” she asked. 

“Then… we’ll find a nice home for her,” Robert said. Rosalind could see that he did not want to do that. He wanted this family to work and she would be wrong if she didn’t try.

“We’ll keep her,” she said. This time she didn’t feel as helpless as she had before. When Robert had threatened to leave if she didn’t help Elizabeth… He hadn’t given her a choice then. Despite how much he claimed that he did, he had not given her an option that didn’t end with her suffering.

“I know you’re still unsure but I give you my word.” Robert said, “I’m sure it isn’t worth much but until I get the chance to show you, please take it.”

“Only if you understand…” she pulled her hand away, “I’m trying. I really am. It’s possible that I won’t be what she needs.” What she needed was an actual set of parents. Not two versions of the same person. “It’s possible that you won’t be either.”

“No one’s asking for perfection.” Robert said, “I think we can do this, but only if you want to.” He was right. If she didn’t want to do it, she would never really be able to give Elizabeth what she needed.

“It’s too bad the city already thinks I’m her mother.” she said, “I’m sure I’d make a better aunt.” She could imagine Robert marrying eventually and having his own children. She would not mind that in the least.

“She isn’t actually our child.” Robert reminded, “You can be whatever you want to her."

“Eventually she’ll wonder about her parents.” Rosalind said, “If one of us don’t pretend to be a parent, she’ll want to know.” Could they really tell her about how she’d ended up with them? It would do her no good to know that she had been cast aside by 2 versions of her father.

“She’s adopted.” Robert said, “We don’t have to tell her anything.”

“But we will,” Rosalind said. With their line of work, it would be impossible to hide from her. She would ask about the contraption eventually.

“When she’s ready.” Robert agreed. They fell into silence again and Rosalind felt herself relax a little. She could do this but only if she had Robert to help her.

Elizabeth began wailing and they both stood, “I can do it.” he said.

“I’ll come with you,” she said. They walked into the room and saw her sitting up and holding her head as she cried.

“Maybe she rolled onto one of these?” Robert lifted a block from her bed.

“And how did that get there?” Rosalind asked. There had only been teddy bears in the crib before. She could see a small red bump on Elizabeth’s forehead. It was as if someone had dropped the block on her.

Rosalind looked towards the window. Had someone broken in? Surely they would have heard it. She walked over and noticed that the window was locked as it usually was. The fine layer of dust let her know that no one had tried to open it at all.

“There are more on the floor,” Robert said. Robert looked down at the toy cars surrounding the crib, “This isn’t right.

Elizabeth wailed loudly and they both looked at her. She kicked at the teddy bear in her bed until something happened. It took a moment for Rosalind to realize what had occurred, “Robert…” she made her way to the crib and picked up the bear, “Do you see this?”

“I did…” Robert finally picked up Elizabeth but did not tear his eyes away from the bear, “Just to be sure...”

“We are seeing the same thing,” Rosalind said.

“It changed colors.”

“From orange to purple.”

“And the fabric?”

“Well, I don’t know the difference in fabrics.”

“But it’s different?”

“It is.”

“She’s still crying,” Robert said.

“Rub her forehead and give her a kiss,” Rosalind said absently. She turned the bear over in her hands. From what she could see, everything else was the same. It was not as soft but it still had the same tears from where Elizabeth had ripped the thread.

“So it just changed?” Robert managed to calm Elizabeth down.

“Only after she kicked it,” Rosalind said. She did not see how it was possible at all. The machine was not on and even if it was, they were 2 floors away from it. “Do you think...”

“That she’s the one bringing all of these toys here?”

“It’s the only way.”

“That would explain why she’s so tired,” Robert said.

“I imagine it’s exhausting to rip open the fabric of the universe for a toy train,” Rosalind said. She looked at Elizabeth and saw that she had fallen asleep again. Did she know what she was doing or was it just happening?

“How is she doing it?” Robert placed Elizabeth in her crib again and gasped as another toy manifested above her. He managed to catch it before it could fall on her.

“More importantly,” Rosalind set the teddy bear down, “How do we get it to stop?” She did not want Elizabeth conjuring up anything else in their house.

“How about we clean these up and put them in the study?” Robert suggested, “And we can figure this out as we go.”

0.o.0.o.0

Elizabeth was awake again and Rosalind was determined not to let her fall asleep. “She needs to eat something,” Rosalind said. Because if she didn’t, she would wake up screaming early in the morning.

“Don’t give her too much energy.” Robert said, “She might summon another doll.” The sudden appearance of toys had stopped shortly after they stored the rest of the toys. It seemed that nothing would appear so long as Elizabeth had their attention. Was this really her work? And if so, what were her limits? Would it hurt her to continue to do what she was doing? As of now, it only made her sleepy but what if it did more? What if it began to cause headaches or bleeding? Despite how curious she was, they would have to stop it now.

Rosalind attempted to feed her a piece of broccoli but she closed her mouth and turned away. “How about a carrot?” Rosalind tried. Elizabeth pushed her hands away and sighed, “All she ever wants is potatoes.” she gave Elizabeth a spoonful of mashed potatoes, “Can’t be healthy.” she mumbled.

“I imagine it tastes better than overcooked broccoli.” Robert said.

“I didn’t overcook it.” she said, “I wanted it that way.”

“What an interesting way to enjoy broccoli.” Robert said. Rosalind found herself smiling. It was strange to think that just that morning he had not been speaking to her. She had wondered if they would ever speak again. She still felt confused by it all but at least now they were making progress.

Rosalind had just placed another carrot onto the spoon when she heard a familiar noise. The crackle of a tear right behind her... Even her neck tingled with energy as she turned and looked at the small window. A gray and white image of Patriot’s Pride stood before her. Rosalind watched the tear dilate and contract for a moment before it closed completely.

She blinked and looked back at Robert. His face mirrored her own and they both looked to Elizabeth. She looked back at them both before reaching towards Rosalind’s food. “Mmm,” she whined.

“Do you think it was her?” Rosalind gave her more potatoes.

“It has to be but…” he frowned, “How would she be doing it?”

“Because she came here through a tear,” Rosalind said.

“I came through a tear as well and I’ve never opened a tear to my favorite candy shop,” Robert said.

“Are you sure? Have you ever thought of something and suddenly it was there?” she asked.

“Only because you brought it to me.” he said, “I’d have noticed if something like this was happening.”

Rosalind fed Elizabeth more potatoes as she thought. She was certain that Elizabeth was the cause but she could not be certain. She had created a machine in order to open tears and Elizabeth was a child who had not yet turned 2.

“Let’s not think about this all night,” Robert said. He seemed to be telling himself that.

“Do you have a headache?” she asked.

“I don’t.” he said, “But I’m tired and I can see you are too. And so is Elizabeth. You’ll only regret it if you stay up all night.”

“Tomorrow then. We have all day.” Rosalind said. Doing research was not easy with Elizabeth around. She demanded attention and they both would not be able to focus at the same time. It would make things take far longer than they needed but she imagined that they would find a way to do it.

Perhaps one could observe while the other theorized. Or Robert could take notes while she attempted to get Elizabeth to repeat what she had just done. Was Elizabeth aware of it? Perhaps the child knew of her abilities. If she knew, did she realize the gravity of it at all?

“Tomorrow, remember?” Robert touched her shoulder and Rosalind blinked. She was holding her spoon out to Elizabeth but the girl was already asleep. Robert picked her up and Rosalind followed them upstairs. She wasn’t sure if she would get any rest at all considering all that had happened.

From her conversation with Robert to Elizabeth opening a tear. She had a lot to think about and so little time to do it. If only there were two of her… Rosalind cracked a smile and Robert raised an eyebrow. “It’s nothing.” she said, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Robert set her down in her crib and gave her a hug before returning to his room. It was only 7 pm but Rosalind went to bed anyway. They had a lot of work to do in the morning.


	12. June 27th, 1894

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very late so I apologize. The plot started to run away from me and now I've got to do a lot of editing to make it fit with the future chapters I've written. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

June 27th, 1894

Robert still could not figure out why Elizabeth preferred Rosalind to him. He would not act as if Rosalind wasn’t her primary caretaker but it was only that way because Elizabeth refused to let him comfort her.

Was it the fact that they’d shared a bed for so long? Maybe if it were he who Elizabeth saw every morning, she would like him more.

Or maybe he should just be content with the fact that she liked him at all. Would she remember that it was he who stole her away from her father? “Rosie!” Robert smiled and looked up from his work. Elizabeth could not speak when she first came to stay with them. Rosalind would say she could barely speak now but Robert understood most of what she said. She only needed to work on the pronunciation.

He watched as Elizabeth tried in vain to get Rosalind’s attention. She was entirely focused on her notes and did not seem to notice Elizabeth pulling at her skirt.

“She’s a little busy, my dear.” Robert said, “Come sit with me.” Elizabeth smiled and came over to him. She pointed at Rosalind and said a few words before looking up at him for an answer, “She’s working.” he said. He knew that he should be as well but they could not both lose themselves to their research. Rosalind seemed to be able to ignore Elizabeth’s cries but he could not.

He looked at Rosalind again. She tapped her pencil against her chin. She always did that when she was deep in thought. It seemed as if something was confusing her and she was not sure how to work through it. Rosalind sighed and set her journal down on the table.

“How about we take a break for lunch?” he suggested.

“We’ve just had breakfast.” she looked at him.

“That was 7 hours ago,” he said, “It’s almost 1 now and I’m sure Elizabeth is hungry as well.”

Rosalind looked towards the clock and frowned, “You should have said something.”

“I’ve been trying to get your attention for the last hour.” he chuckled, “Did you figure anything out?”

“Perhaps.” she nodded, “The only way to know for sure is to see her do it again.”

Elizabeth had not opened a tear at all in the past week. Despite both he and Rosalind’s attempts, she continued as if it never happened.

“Perhaps we were too hasty in deciding the tear was caused by her,” Robert suggested. He didn’t believe that theory at all. He had seen what she did to the teddy bear and it wasn’t too absurd to say that she caused the tear to open as well.

“No one else would have conjured all of those toys,” Rosalind said. They both looked over at the remainder of the toys. They had tried to give most of them away but there weren’t that many children in Columbia at the moment.

“I think we need to recreate the events for that day.” Robert said, “What did the two of you do? You were with her all day.” Maybe Elizabeth had been happier than usual, she always enjoyed her days with Rosalind.

“But you weren’t here.” Rosalind pointed out, “She had no one to play with.” Most of his time with Elizabeth was spent playing with her. He found that she had endless amounts of energy and it would take hours to tire her out.

“So perhaps if she’s bored?” Robert suggested.

“I believe she’s always bored when she spends the day with me,” Rosalind said, “I do read to her but I’m starting to believe that reading the transcript of our book is not something that interests her.”

Robert chuckled again, “She’d listen to you even if you read her our shopping list.”

“Whatever the case,” Rosalind finally focused on him, “She was most likely not as entertained as she would be if you were here. I think we should ignore her for a moment.”

“What?” Robert looked down at Elizabeth.

“You’ll put her down and I’ll leave for 10 minutes. If she tries to get your attention, just ignore her.” Rosalind said. Robert did not like the sound of that at all.

“Where are you going?” he asked. Rosalind stood up and Elizabeth wiggled until he let her off of his lap. The young girl walked over to Rosalind and waited patiently to be acknowledged.

“Just down to Harper’s.” Rosalind said, “We need more milk, I’ll be quick.”

“She’s following you.” Robert pointed out. Elizabeth seemed to think that she would go wherever Rosalind went. He wasn’t sure why, Rosalind hardly ever took Elizabeth out.

“Tell her to stop.” Rosalind walked towards the door, “Wouldn’t you like to stay with Robert?”

“No,” Elizabeth said.

“That’s unfortunate because you aren’t coming with me,” Rosalind said. Elizabeth continued to follow Rosalind as she put her notes away, “Robert.” Rosalind sighed and looked his way. She was annoyed and Robert found the sight to be funny.

“I don’t think she understands," he said.

“She certainly acts as if she does,” Rosalind said. It was true. Elizabeth responded to almost everything he or Rosalind said, whether she listened or not was another story.

“Elizabeth, come sit with me please,” Robert said. Elizabeth turned to him and whined, “Stop that.” he stood up and walked over to Rosalind.

“Do you need anything else while I’m out?” Rosalind asked. Robert picked up Elizabeth again and thought for a moment.

“No,” he sighed, “You’ll only be gone for 10 minutes, right?”

“Right.” Rosalind nodded, “I believe that’s all it will take. Just focus on your reading for at least 5 minutes and document any changes you notice in the room.”

“Is it really necessary?” Robert asked. Experiments for children weren’t his specialty, why couldn’t she be the one to do it?

“It is," Rosalind said firmly.

“I don’t believe this will work.” They walked down into the kitchen and Rosalind looked at him.

“When _you_ have a theory, we’ll test that.” she said, “If this doesn’t work, we’ll try something else.”

“This is just to verify that she’s the one doing this.” Robert said, “What do we do once we confirm that?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“What are we meant to do about it?” Rosalind asked. He hadn’t thought much about that. They could only wait until she was old enough to understand what was going on before doing anything else.

Rosalind left and Elizabeth cried like she always did. It didn’t take him long to calm her down this time, “She’ll be back soon.”

He took her back to the study and placed her on the floor. She immediately went to her pile of teddy bears and Robert sat at the desk. He could focus for at least 5 minutes. If he read Rosalind’s notes, he was sure the 5 minutes would go by quickly.

She had begun to theorize about the tears almost immediately after the first one appeared. He read the first few lines and noticed that Rosalind’s handwriting was quite similar to his own. it made sense that it would be but he had never really read anything she wrote. Most of her notes ended up as recordings but now as he read over the paragraph, he realized that she even abbreviated the same way he did.

“Robbie?”

He didn’t lookup. Instead, he focused on Rosalind's writing. He found himself reading the word porridge over and over again but he could not focus on the context. Why was she writing about food?

“Robbie!” Elizabeth stomped her feet and Robert clenched his jaw. Was she going to cry if he didn’t look up at her? He’d have to help her then. Her tears would give him another headache if he didn’t.

He felt Elizabeth pushing a teddy bear into his lap. He grabbed the bear and set it on the table.

They had gotten rid of over 20 teddy bears and had left her with only 4 total. So when he felt her place several more bears onto his lap, he knew Rosalind’s theory was correct.

“For you,” she said. He glanced up briefly and noticed how many she had.

“Okay, you need to stop now,” he said.

“For you!” she giggled and another bear appeared. She bounced happily as she picked it up, “For Rosie!”

“She’ll love it.” he nodded, “But please, no more.”

Elizabeth laughed and looked up at him, “Hi.” she waved and he sighed in relief. The teddy bears stopped appearing and he picked her up.

“How do you do that?” he asked Elizabeth responded by pulling his tie. Maybe she would be able to tell them once she learned to speak properly. He wasn’t even sure if she knew that she was the one causing all of the tears. Maybe she was just happy that toys appeared when she wanted them.

“Robbie?”

“Yes?” he asked.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and began to ramble on. He wished he knew what she was saying, he was sure that she was spinning a grand tale about something. Maybe she was explaining the tears to him.

He took a seat and looked down at Rosalind’s notes. Would Elizabeth have been a quiet child if she’d stayed with the Comstock’s? Did she only babble so much because Rosalind did so?

He wondered how much they influenced her development. It was probably too early to find out about that. Perhaps he would ask Rosalind what she thought. Maybe they should look for versions of themselves with the contraption. Or perhaps more versions of Elizabeth.

"Robbie?" Elizabeth paused her story and looked at him. All he did was smile and she nodded before continuing.

Elizabeth did not seem to like it when he lost himself in thought. Could she tell that he wasn't listening to her?

0.o.0.o.0

It had been far longer than 10 minutes when Rosalind arrived, “Did you forget that you were meant to get milk for her lunch?” he asked. Elizabeth had grown tired and hungry 15 minutes after Rosalind had left and he’d had a hard time calming her down. They had no food to give her and he cursed himself for allowing their stock to run low. He needed to remember that it wasn’t just he and Rosalind. Elizabeth could not skip meals as they could.

“I saw a tear,” she said.

She did not seem to be happy about that at all, “And?” he pressed.

“Other people saw it too.” Rosalind said, “In the middle of Harper’s grocery, one opened to a party. People were wearing masks and it closed fairly quickly. But I don’t believe it’s the first.”

“Why not?"

“There were only a few people who witnessed it but they said it happened before. They hadn’t believed it then but now…” She rubbed her temples.

Elizabeth’s tears could open anywhere it seemed. How long before Comstock noticed them and came knocking? He would want to know more and Robert was afraid of what that meant for Elizabeth.

“How was she?” Rosalind asked.

“Your theory was correct, she summoned a horde of teddy bears,” Robert said. And that was after only 2 minutes of ignoring her.

“I’ll prepare dinner, did she eat anything?”

“No.” Robert shook his head, “We don’t have anything to give her.” Rosalind looked guilty for a moment before sighing.

“Why don’t we go out then,” she suggested.

“What?”

“To a restaurant.” she clarified, “There’s a small eatery that just opened.” They had not yet been seen outside together with Elizabeth yet and if he was excited.

“Let me clean up a bit.” He handed Elizabeth to her and rushed up the stairs. He freshened up quickly before meeting Rosalind back in the kitchen. "Alright, let's go." It wasn't until they left the house that his excitement melted away.

Rosalind decided to carry Elizabeth to the restaurant. He wasn’t sure why she had made the decision to take her out anyway. She had missed lunch and he hadn’t been able to put her down for a nap yet.

“We haven’t had a day out since she came to stay with us.” Rosalind explained, “And people are just dying to see me out with her.” Rosalind had barely taken her out in the past few months. If Robert thought about it, he was sure that Rosalind never took her out.

“It’s all for appearances then?” he looked around and noticed that a few people were watching them.

“I wanted to try this place before it becomes popular.” Rosalind said, “Is it wrong to want you to be here too?”

“Of course not.” Robert said, “This is just unexpected.” He was mostly worried that Elizabeth would throw a tantrum. She had been fussy since Rosalind left and that had yet to change.

“This is what families do,” Rosalind said. It was not what their family did. Robert knew his mother had not wanted to take him along to the market with her and any nights in town were reserved for just his parents.

They arrived at the restaurant and Elizabeth began to grow restless in Rosalind’s arms. She wanted to be put down so that she could explore the new scenery but Rosalind did not let her go. He knew she would start crying if she did not get her way. What would Rosalind do then? He usually let her have whatever she wanted to get her to stop but Rosalind always argued with her.

It would not look good to see Rosalind arguing with a child who could barely speak. She was always worried about what people thought about her, this was a bad idea.

“Robert,” Rosalind sighed, “Stop it.”

“I’m nervous.”

“I can tell,” Rosalind said. He wondered if she could feel his emotions in the same way he could feel hers. She seemed to always know what he was thinking.

The waiter sat them down and Rosalind placed Elizabeth on her lap. He could see from Elizabeth’s displeased face that she was ready to scream. “You’re making her nervous,” Rosalind said, “Are you always like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve never actually gone to a restaurant together.” Rosalind pointed out, “Since you arrived, we’ve been working almost nonstop. I assumed I was the only one nervous about what others might think of me.” She was right, they had not sat down to eat together like this at all. Not only because of his illness but because of Elizabeth.

“I don’t want either of you upset.” he sighed, “If Elizabeth cries, you’ll get upset too.”

“She won’t cry.” Rosalind said, “She just needs something to eat, then she’ll sleep.” And somehow, she was right. The waiter made sure their food arrived quickly after they ordered and Rosalind fed Elizabeth. It wasn’t long after that Elizabeth dozed off.

“We should have brought the pram along,” Robert said.

“Are you enjoying your meal?” Rosalind changed the subject. Even with the child in her arms, she did not want to talk about her.

“I am.” Robert nodded. He was glad Rosalind had suggested dinner. It was still unlike her but he had to admit that he did not know her as well as he thought he did. He had assumed that every aspect of her would be similar to the way he thought. It had become apparent only after Elizabeth’s arrival how different they actually were. And he loved it.

Different or not, Rosalind was very intriguing to him. They were matched in intelligence as far as he could tell. They both lost themselves to research easily yet Rosalind was somehow worse than he was.

She spoke more than he did but he liked that as well. He’d spent most of his life keeping to himself but it was clear that Rosalind had not done so. He imagined that she had spent a lot of time making herself heard in the male-dominated career field. He had never thought to ask her how she’d done it. He had seen the way the women who attempted to make something of themselves were treated. There had been 3 girls in his class of 28 and of those 3, only 1 had graduated with him. Not because the others weren’t smart, but because the men in his class had done everything in their power to get them to quit.

“Robert?” Rosalind cleared her throat.

“Yes?” he blinked.

“Lost in thought?” she asked.

“Just a bit,” he said. He didn’t think he could ever be as strong as Rosalind was.

“What about?” she seemed sleepy. She always absently rubbed Elizabeth’s back when she was close to falling asleep herself.

“You,” he admitted. Her face grew slightly concerned and he could see her struggling to mask her feelings. “It’s nothing bad.” he said quickly, “I was just thinking of how different we are. It’s still strange since we are meant to be the same person.”

Rosalind hummed in agreement, “One day we might get to look into that.” she said, “I often wonder if every other Rosalind grew up the way I did. If everything was meant to be exactly the same or if only certain accomplishments match. We’ve only briefly talked about it but I think it warrants further research.”

“Besides that,” he looked at her food and saw that she had still not touched it, “How are you feeling?” She had not cried recently. Or maybe she had just made sure that he could no longer hear her cry. The dark circles under her eyes had not yet lightened but she did not seem as sad as she had when she opened the tear. Robert still had not figured out how to care for Elizabeth as well as she did but he would not give up. Rosalind did not want to talk about it anymore. She was intent on pretending that she did not need a break.

“I… It hasn’t been any easier.” Rosalind admitted, “It’s only been a few weeks and nothing has changed. Not really.” She seemed embarrassed by that. He knew that she had not expected a change immediately but he could tell she thought it was her own fault that this issue had not been resolved yet.

“That isn’t your fault.” Robert reminded, “I’m at fault too.” Elizabeth and her tears had provided plenty of distraction but he could not forget that he had given her his word that he would be better.

“I visited the library today,” Rosalind said quietly.

“And what did you find?” She was always quick to change the subject when she grew uncomfortable.

“I went to speak to the other parents there.” Rosalind said, “To ask advice.”

“And?” He had attempted to read books about it but none of it had been helpful. Perhaps he should have asked other parents.

“I managed to compile most of it into notes while I had lunch.” She said, “I can show them to you tomorrow.”

“You had lunch?” he asked.

“Yes.” Rosalind rolled her eyes, “I didn’t realize that we had no food at all.” He couldn't fault her for it, he hadn't realized that they had run out either.

“Right, go on.” he nodded. 

“I think I know how to make this easier for the both of us.” she said, “If she’s going to stay with us, we need to do better. She needs more structure than we’ve given her. You can’t keep allowing her to do whatever she wants.”

“I don’t-” he stopped himself, “Don’t you think she deserves it?”

“Children do deserve to be happy.” Rosalind agreed, “Elizabeth is not the exception, but she also needs to be healthy.”

“She is healthy," he said.

“You give her too much candy, you let her stay up too long, you play with her all day.” Rosalind said, “All of those things are fine in moderation, but you need to understand that you are the one in charge. She doesn’t listen to you because she knows that you’ll let her have her way in the end if she cries enough.”

“She’s been through so much.” Robert said, “She’s not yet 2 and we’re her 3rd caretakers.” It was not wrong for him to want her to be as happy as possible. It was their fault that she had experienced so much pain.

“This is not meant to be an argument.” Rosalind said, “But starting tomorrow we’ll have to change. She needs boundaries and you need to get back to work.”

“Work?”

“Yes, work.” Rosalind said, “We’ve an entire city to monitor and keep afloat. I need you to start attending the weekly meetings and checking on the reactors with me.”

“And what will we do with Elizabeth while we’re working?” he asked. One of them would have to stay with her. So far it had been him, this was Rosalind’s world and it needed her more than it needed him.

“She can come along to the meetings.” Rosalind said, “Which is another reason she needs to learn the rules.”

“And who gets to make those rules?” he asked. He had a feeling Rosalind would be too strict with her. Overly strict parents would make her miserable. Rosalind had to remember that from their own childhood.

“We both will. We’ll have a chat after we get groceries in the morning.” Rosalind said. She picked up her fork and began to eat.

“I can hold her while you eat,” Robert suggested. He had already finished his food. He stood and took the child from Rosalind. Elizabeth woke up but didn’t complain.

“How long do you think it will take for things to be normal?” Rosalind asked.

“Things haven’t been normal since I arrived,” Robert said. And he was willing to bet that they never would be. Not as they were before. “I don’t think we’ll go back to what you had before.” Even if he and Elizabeth were to disappear today, things would never be the same.

“So we need a new normal,” Rosalind said. There could be no more working without a schedule. Rosalind was right when she said Elizabeth needed structure but he realized that they needed that as well. Long nights and late mornings were all too common. Hours spent researching and ignoring everything else could no longer happen. Not with Elizabeth here to stay.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” The waiter asked.

“We’ll pay now,” Robert said. He could tell that Rosalind was ready to leave. She had done nothing but poke at her food and she had yawned several times.

“Was it not to your liking, Madame?” the waiter asked.

“It’s fine. I’m just tired,” she said quietly. She paid for their food and took Elizabeth from him. It was late now and he wanted to get to bed as well. They had a lot to do in the morning and even though it was still early, he didn’t want to be tired.

“We have a lot of work to do, why don’t we go to bed early tonight?” Robert said. Rosalind nodded as she followed him home. He was curious to read the notes she made but it could wait until the next morning. He helped Rosalind put Elizabeth to bed before retiring to his own room. He wondered if the exhaustion that came with spending all day with Elizabeth would ever fade away. Maybe once they figured out what they should be doing it would be better.

A part of him was still nervous. What if it never became easier for them? What if his headaches never stopped? What if Rosalind was finally driven over the edge by all of it? That was the last thing he wanted. She had been doing so much for both he and Elizabeth. If he was tired, then Rosalind was twice as tired. He knew there was nothing he could do at the moment. He would have to listen to what Rosalind would say in the morning and hope that whatever she had planned was the solution they needed.

Until then, he would rest.


	13. June 28th, 1894

June 28th, 1894

Her plan was simple and she had spent the entire night pouring over it to make sure that it could not fail. She would never be sure until she tried it. Elizabeth was a variable that continued to change as the days went by.

“You were supposed to sleep,” Robert said gently. She looked up from her notes and then towards the clock.

“I slept a little.” she said, “But I wanted to make sure this was completed before Elizabeth woke up.”

“How long did you stay up last night?” he asked.

“I don’t recall,” she said. She had stayed up hours past what she meant to. Once she had begun, she couldn’t stop, “I made schedules for work and for Elizabeth. I didn’t want to make any big decisions before you woke up.” she said, “And I made a new shopping list.”

“It’s a long list.” Robert picked it up and looked it over.

“I want to make sure we don’t end up in this situation again,” she explained. The list contained mostly things that could be saved in their pantry. They needed to make sure they stayed stocked on canned goods just in case they ever ran out of fresh food. “We’ll shop for fruits and vegetables once a week.” She said.

“We’ll be cooking every day?” Robert asked.

“She needs to eat every day.” Rosalind said, “I think we should as well.”

“Of course.” Robert nodded.

“Harper’s will open in an hour.” Rosalind said, “We’ll need to get there as soon as possible.”

“Mhmm.” Robert nodded, “Elizabeth and I can do that.”

“I’m coming as well,” Rosalind said.

“You need to rest.” Robert rolled his eyes and set the list down.

“I don’t.” She shook her head. This was no different than how she usually spent her nights before Elizabeth came.

“You look as if you’ll pass out any second now,” Robert said.

“I know but-”

“Just take a nap while I’m gone and then we’ll discuss your schedules then.” he said firmly, “You’ll have to start taking care of yourself too. No more long nights.”

“We can’t both have long nights.” Rosalind agreed, “But in our line of work, it will be necessary.” If they have any more issues with the reactors, they would both be busy. They had barely made it through the winter and Rosalind had a feeling that they had only made it because Columbia had been flying towards the southern states. What would they do if they spent a few months up north? The reactors would freeze and the people might too.

“Rosalind,” Robert cleared his throat, “Just take a nap today. Elizabeth will wake you when we’re back.”

“I will sleep once you leave,” Rosalind said.

“Fine.” Robert sighed, “What did you learn at the library?”

“Oh yes.” she looked through the pile of papers for the notes she’d made the day before. The women there were more than eager to impart their wisdom on her. It hadn’t even taken much, all she had done was approach a group of women and start talking. “They told me a lot about raising a child.”

Rosalind found the notes and handed them to him.

“A nanny?” Robert wrinkled his nose as he read.

“Apparently most parents in Emporia have hired a nanny.” Rosalind said, “Usually the nanny lives with them and takes care of the children.” Rosalind had not had a nanny as a child so it didn’t seem as if it were necessary. She had spent a lot of time working with her mother and her father had taught her to read and write.

“Unless you plan to purchase a new home, there can be no nanny,” Robert said. They did not want anyone seeing the contraption and finding out how Comstock was actually getting his visions.

“It’s something to consider.” Rosalind shrugged. She was against the idea completely but it was the most common thing she had heard. “I don’t think we need to.”

“Is it normal for most people to leave their children with a nanny?” Robert put the kettle on the fire and sat down.

“For richer people, yes.” Rosalind nodded.

“You spent your free time helping your mother raise children,” Robert said, “And I spent my free time working with father.”

“But Elizabeth won’t really be able to help us with our work unless she takes a liking to it.” Rosalind said, “And even then, she can’t do anything until she’s able to read and write.” Rosalind did not want to force Elizabeth to work as her own mother had. Children needed time to stay children and Rosalind had not been given that chance.

“So, we won’t be hiring a nanny then.” Robert nodded, “Scheduled nap and bedtimes?” he read the next point.

“Yes, we usually put her to sleep whenever she gets sleepy. Apparently, we should choose a time and make her go to bed regardless of whether she seems sleepy or not.”

“Why?”

“Because the reason you have such a hard time getting her to bed is that when children get too sleepy, they can’t sleep. One woman told me the signs to watch out for.” Rosalind had thought she knew a lot about raising children but the women had shown her that she didn’t know a thing. She had barely scratched the surface. If she had known what she knew now, they wouldn’t have had so many problems in the beginning.

“You didn’t write them down.” Robert pointed out.

“Because they only said things I already knew,” Rosalind said, “Elizabeth rubs her eyes and usually comes to sit with us once she gets tired.”

“I assumed she wanted to play when she did that…” Robert said thoughtfully.

“She’s getting tired at that point.” Rosalind explained, “It’s easiest to put her to sleep at that point. Elizabeth usually falls asleep on her own if you hold her. You’d still be able to read or do whatever it is you’re doing. If you play with her instead, she won’t be able to sleep.”

Rosalind still wasn’t sure why she would fight sleeping when she was obviously tired but she couldn’t complain.

She was willing to bet that Robert had so much trouble because they played until she grew fussy, then he would attempt to put her to sleep.

“So we need to let her wind down before bed,” Robert said with a nod.

“That’s why I created this schedule.” Rosalind handed another paper to him, “She can wake whenever she wants but she should always have a nap at 11. She can have lunch when she wakes up. Then her bedtime will be 7 pm.”

“Isn’t that too early?”

“It isn’t.” Rosalind shook her head, “I think we’ve been letting her stay up too late.” Elizabeth usually became fussy around 8 pm anyway.

Robert looked over the notes and the schedule before nodding, “I don’t think you needed my input on this.” he said.

“I wanted it anyway,” Rosalind said. If he didn’t agree with it, he wouldn’t be able to implement it.

“I think it’s great.” Robert said, “I could help you more if this works. We could alternate and you won’t have to put her to sleep every night.”

That was the plan at least. The schedule was only the first step. The next would be her diet, playtime, and education. She did not want Elizabeth to end up spoiled but Robert was intent on spoiling her rotten.

“And we should move her to her own room.”

“We tried that already.” Rosalind reminded. Her sleeping arrangements were not the issue at the moment.

“We’ll try again.” Robert said, “I believe it’s time. We should get her a normal bed too.”

“Why?” Rosalind rolled her eyes, “So she can get out of bed and wander about while we’re asleep?” Rosalind would never be able to rest with the knowledge that Elizabeth was messing around in the study. In her crib, she could not leave until one of them let her out. “She isn’t old enough yet.”

“How old should she be?”

“I didn’t stop sleeping in Mother’s room until I was almost 6,” Rosalind said.

“We were poor.” Robert stood again to move the kettle, “But that’s to be discussed later.”

“Elizabeth will wake soon.” Rosalind yawned.

“And you should get to bed,” Robert said

“I want to go shopping with you,” Rosalind said. He always forgot things when he went alone. If he took Elizabeth then he would be distracted. He would forget the essentials and then she would end up going by herself later anyway.

“Then we’ll go after your nap.” Robert sighed, “We will not compromise any further.”

“Fine.” she nodded.

0.o.0.o.0

Robert looked over the schedule one final time before returning to the music room. It all seemed to be a solid plan but he wouldn’t know until he tried. And he would try his hardest to make it work. “She went down without a fight.” Rosalind was curled up on the couch.

She seemed to be satisfied with the day's events. No tantrums, no tears, and no stress. “Will it be this easy every day?” he asked.

“Not likely.” Rosalind said, “But it’s easier than not having a plan.”

He sat on the opposite end of the couch, “You’re able to this all so easily.” Robert said.

“it’s not easy for me.” Rosalind said, “Truthfully, I don’t know if it ever will be.” He felt terrible when he thought about how reluctant she was. He knew that this was the last thing she wanted but she was doing it for him. Her feelings for Elizabeth might grow over time but right now they were still low.

“You’re still much better than anyone she’s lived with,” Robert said. He found his mind traveling to Booker Dewitt again. Would he have adapted if Rosalind laid out a plan of action like this? Would he be able to stick to it? How unfair was it that they never gave him that chance?

“Hmm.” Rosalind nodded, “Tomorrow we’ll do this together again. Then the day after, it will be your turn.”

“I could start tomorrow,” he suggested

“There are still a few things I need to show you.” Rosalind was falling asleep now. She had refused to rest all day and for some reason, she was still struggling to stay awake.

“Fine.” he agreed. This next week would be a test to see if any of it worked or not. He would call it successful if Rosalind was able to relax just a little. “Why don’t we go to bed.

“I’m not tired yet.” she said, “I still need to look over the reports for the reactors and… um… prepare the notes for the meeting.”

“I can do that.” Robert had only been to a few meetings since his arrival in Columbia but Rosalind had sought his input on the notes from the beginning. Looking over reports had been all he was able to do in the beginning.

“Okay.” she nodded, “You’ll both be coming with me.”’

“Both of us?”

“Well, I can’t leave her here,” Rosalind said.

“You don’t think it’s too soon?” Robert asked.

“I don’t.” Rosalind said, “Even if it was, I’d want you to come anyway.” Despite how confident she seemed at the moment, he could tell that she was nervous about it. What if Elizabeth cried and they couldn’t comfort her? What if people judged her for bringing her child to work?

“It’ll be during her nap time,” Robert said.

“Exactly,” Rosalind nodded, “We’ll let her sleep in my office.” She stood up and looked over at him, “We can finalize the notes together after breakfast.”

Robert nodded, “Goodnight.” he stood and stopped her as she walked by.

“What?” she blinked up at him. It was strange to look upon his own face like this, “Robert?”

“You’re doing great.” he gave her a hug, “I know it’s a lot but you’re doing this better than I could ever hope to do.”

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Rosalind sighed as she hugged him back.

“I’m not being dramatic.” he said, “I’m just telling the truth.” They finally released each other and he nudged her towards the door, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You make it seem as if I’m leaving.” she yawned, “Goodnight, please don’t stay up too late.” He focused on the documents in front of him once he heard her door close. He was actually excited to get back into work. His thoughts had been occupied with Elizabeth and Rosalind so often that he was afraid he would forget what he’d gotten a degree in.

As he read over the reports he found himself relaxing. It was all so simple compared to Elizabeth. He knew exactly how everything should be running and he would notice immediately if something was off. It was understandable why Rosalind preferred to keep to academics instead of building relationships. She was only sticking to what she knew. It was likely that stepping outside of her comfort zone had only led to trouble.

He wondered if starting a family would be something she ever wanted to do. If she could step out of her comfort zone to raise Elizabeth, maybe she could accept an invitation from one of the many suitors that sent letters her way.

Robert chuckled and shook his head. Rosalind did not avoid relationships because they made her uncomfortable. She just didn’t want one at all. He knew that she had been in a few relationships before they met. Whatever man she chose to be with would have to be really special to hold her interest. And any man she took interest in would have to accept the fact that she was a physicist. She would never be a housewife to anyone.

He finished looking over the first report and picked up another. He supposed he would have to start sending letters to potential partners. The idea did not sit well with him. Every date did not end well and he was far too awkward. He didn’t know how to woo a woman and he had no real friends to ask about it.

Even in his own world, he had kept to himself. Maybe that was the issue. He didn’t know how to speak to people besides Rosalind. How would that affect Elizabeth? He didn’t want her to end up like him. While both he and Rosalind were very successful, they didn’t have friends.

He shook his head and focused on the papers. He only had a few more reports to read and then he would be able to compile the notes and go to bed. He was wasting time by thinking of scenarios that were too far off to even worry about.

He finished and stretched as he stood. He was tired too now but his excitement was keeping him awake. He wondered if normal people were this excited to go to work. He wanted to show Rosalind the notes and then he wanted to sit among everyone as they discussed the plan for the entire week. He hadn't realized that he missed it so much.

He had a feeling that things would only get better as time went on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know that labor day officially became a holiday on June 28th, 1894? I'm finally through all the unplanned parts, now we should be able to return to what I had originally planned. Hopefully, that means more updates.
> 
> I hope you all had a swell weekend :)


	14. July 6th, 1894

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm posting twice today to make up for the fact that I haven't posted anything in a while. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was pretty long so I had to split it into 2 parts. Part 2 will be posted next week!
> 
> Also, A friend of mine is going to start posting pictures of each chapter on her Tumblr. :)

July 6th, 1894

It was not easy forcing Elizabeth to go by the new plan they’d created. She was resisted every attempt for Robert to put her to sleep and Rosalind was not sure why. If he was following the schedule, he should have no issues. Perhaps she needed to watch him to see what he did when it was his turn to watch Elizabeth. She had a feeling that he was straying from the plan that they'd agreed upon. It was more likely when she left the 2 of them alone.

Robert liked to sneak her treats when he thought she was not watching. How did he expect her to sleep when he gave her treats so close to bedtime.

“Tonight it’s your turn to put her to bed,” Rosalind mentioned. It had only been 9 days since they started this new plan but Rosalind was glad for it. Though Robert still struggled, Rosalind found that when it was becoming easier. Elizabeth just needed to stop being so resistant to the changes.

The schedule for the most part was easy to follow. Elizabeth was usually in bed by 7 now and she and Robert both had several hours to themselves. Robert was able to do research with her and she could tell that he didn’t feel as useless as he did before.

She knew that things would change as Elizabeth grew older but now she was confident that they could do it together.

Now they were out in town and Rosalind held Elizabeth as the little girl pointed and babbled. Elizabeth had not had her nap yet and she wanted to put her to sleep now. This would not be an easy night for Robert if they didn’t let her sleep now.

Elizabeth touched her face and Rosalind looked at her. She was waiting for some sort of response so Rosalind nodded. Rosalind had not heard the question but she was certain she would not have understood anyway. "I can start dinner if I go home now," Robert spoke up finally.

"We haven't been to the garden yet," Rosalind said. They had planned to take a walk to the Memorial Gardens.

"You two don't have to come with me." Robert rolled his eyes, "I can have dinner ready for when you return."

"You're the one who always makes a fuss about me not coming out with you two." Rosalind pointed out, "You're ending this walk a little early." They had barely been out an hour now. They'd stopped by to pick up some things for dinner and Elizabeth had made a scene in the grocery store but that was handled easily enough. Had that soured his mood?

"It's almost 2 now," Robert reminded, "If we both stay, dinner will be really late in the day." Robert picked up the bags, "I can take Elizabeth if you'd like to continue your walk alone, she needs a nap anyway."

Rosalind looked at him and noticed for the first time how weary he seemed. This was not the same weariness that came from staying up all night. They’d both had plenty of sleepless nights before and after Elizabeth came to stay with them, but this was different.

Maybe it was the past week that had done this to him. He always seemed to struggle with Elizabeth when it was his turn to put her to sleep. She had spent her free time studying backup power methods for the reactors and had only stepped in when Robert asked her to. She had heard Elizabeth’s constant crying but she had not left the office to help. She had assumed that Robert could handle it. And he could. She knew that he could because she could. He just needed a little more time to figure it out. Perhaps he needed to find his own methods of keeping Elizabeth calm and stop attempting to do things exactly as she did.

But he was still recovering from his travels... It wasn’t easy jumping into a new life like this. She knew he still had headaches and he always attempted to hide his nosebleeds from her. It had not been a complete year yet. Perhaps she was not being as accommodating as she could be. It couldn’t be easy doing what he had done.

"Rosalind?" Robert cleared his throat.

"I'll keep her here." she said finally, "You can focus on dinner and I'll take a short walk to Magical Melodies. We can go to the gardens some other day."

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly.

"I can handle it." she nodded.

"She's different outside." Robert said, "Once you put her down she'll take off." And Elizabeth was fast despite the fact that she had just learned to walk in the recent months. Once she had figured out how to run, she never stopped.

"I won't let her walk then." she said, "I have the pram." she placed Elizabeth into it and gave Robert a small smile, "She'll probably fall asleep since she missed her nap. We'll be back in an hour." She could sense his hesitation. Rosalind had never taken Elizabeth out alone and she had to admit that she did not know how the child would respond. Still, Robert needed a break. She didn’t want him as stressed and exhausted as she had been.

“Alright,” Robert left them and Rosalind began to push the carriage.

"Rosie?" Elizabeth was getting better at saying her name now. She should have been about 19 months now. Was that normal? Or perhaps she should know more words.

"Yes?"

"I walk?" she asked hopefully. She wanted to run about outside but Emporia was crowded today. It was a warm July day and Elizabeth could see the other children laughing and running about.

"Not yet," Rosalind said as she watched the mothers chase their children about and apologizing when the kids bumped into people. She did not want to chase Elizabeth like that.

She walked slowly through the market and watched the people move about. "I had to see it myself." she heard a familiar voice and frowned as Jeremiah Fink stepped in front of her. He stopped the stroller with his foot and Elizabeth protested at the sudden stop.

"So," he smiled, "Madame Lutece is a mother now?"

"Lower your voice." she hissed, "This is _not_ my child." She moved around him and continued to walk. She did not want to be bothered by Fink today.

"Of course she isn't." Fink began walking beside her, "I'm sure I would have noticed if you were pregnant." And that made him a little smarter than the average citizen. Many had seen her in the months before Elizabeth had arrived and still believed that she had somehow given birth to a child who was already one year old. "She looks a lot like the Lamb," Fink said.

Rosalind fought the urge to cover Elizabeth with her blanket, "She certainly does." she agreed.

"Or rather," Fink looked around and narrowed his eyes, "She looks like the old Lamb. Why do you think they had a closed casket funeral?"

“What mother could look upon her dead child and stay strong? Perhaps she wanted to maintain the illusion of strength.” Rosalind had not gone to the funeral but she had read about Lady Comstock’s determined speech. She of course knew that the casket was closed because it was filled with stones and not a dead child.

Fink snorted and stopped the stroller again, "Don't start with that lie." he said lowly, "Only a fool would believe it and you are no fool." She was never sure of how much Fink knew about Comstock. If he knew how fake he was, she was certain he didn't care.

"I have no way of knowing how she felt about her child," Rosalind said. There were too many people around for her to speak as freely as he wanted her to. She refused to be the subject of even more rumors.

"Comstock didn't want this kid anymore." Fink let her continue walking, "After all he did to get her." So maybe he did know the truth and wasn't just speculating.

"Lady Comstock told him she was finally pregnant." Rosalind said as the crowds died down, "He's getting what he wants."

"As he always will." Fink said with a shrug, "How did you end up with her?" She wasn't sure why she was still talking to him at all.

"I was only meant to watch her for a week," she said, "And then that story was released in the paper." She suddenly remembered how angry and sad she had been. Knowing that once again, Comstock had taken away any options she had.

"That doesn't mean you have to keep her." Fink said, "I never saw you as the mothering type.”

"And what type am I?" she asked. Elizabeth had reached over to touch her hand and Rosalind recoiled at the feeling of saliva. Elizabeth giggled and fell back into the carriage.

"I have no idea." Fink said, "I don't know you outside of work." He always knew when he was overstepping. She had witnessed him purposely moving forward despite that and she was glad he wasn't choosing to do so now. "There are rumors that you turn down every suitor who comes your way, I think we all assumed that you wanted to be alone."

It was true, she had no desire to court or marry anyone. Nor did she ever want to have a child. Robert had mentioned wanting to start a family several times and if he chose to do so, she would not stop him.

She looked down and saw that Elizabeth had managed to remove her shoe and had started to chew on it. "That's disgusting." she pulled the shoe away and Elizabeth reached for it, "Keep it out of your mouth."

"I'll leave you be now." Fink said, "I know parenthood can be hard to adapt to, but you're doing well." he gave her a wink and left. Rosalind turned back to Elizabeth who was now struggling to get her other shoe off.

Rosalind rolled her eyes and entered the shop. It was empty except for Albert Fink and his assistant at the back piano. Albert tapped the keys slowly, "It just... doesn't sound right." he said. the frustration in his voice was obvious.

"I think it sounds wonderful, Mr. Fink." the assistant tried.

"No..." Albert sighed, "Something's missing."

Elizabeth began babbling again and it drew their attention from the piano. "Madame Lutece!" he stood quickly as if he was embarrassed by his process, "What brings you here today?"

"I'm just looking for a record," she said.

"Is there a particular composer in mind?" Albert asked as he stepped closer.

"No." she shook her head, "Just something light and slow,” she recalled how music had helped put Elizabeth to sleep when she first moved in with them. Perhaps it would help Robert if they had something special to play for her. "A lullaby."

"For the little one?" the assistant had already moved next to her and was smiling brightly at Elizabeth. The child loved the attention and began to tell the girl a tale about Robert and milk.

"Something to help her sleep." Rosalind said, "She hasn't been adjusting well since her parents passed."

"So it's true..." the assistant stood straight and looked away, "I heard rumors that she was an orphan but... There's just so much death going around."

"Miss Abigail, don't let yourself get so upset." Albert said, "She's in good hands with Madame Lutece." Albert shooed her to the back of the shop. "Forgive her, she's still in training."

"Of course," Rosalind said with a nod, "She'll learn her way with you as her teacher."

"Yes, I'm sure." he smiled and held up the record he had found, "I'll be honest when I say people don't come for lullabies often, I don't have much on hand." He handed it to her.

“Ah Vous dirai-je, Maman. Mozart.” she read the cover quietly.

"Our record player is broken but I can play a sample for you with the piano." he admitted, "It's simple enough for a child to like."

"I've heard it before," she said. In fact, she had played it when learning piano herself. Her mother had forced her to learn the song and Rosalind recalled being angry that her mother had made her play such a simple song. Now, she was sure Elizabeth would enjoy it.

"Oh good," Albert said, "You know, it's one of the first songs I learned. The beginning had been so simple that I thought I could play it all."

"How old were you when you started to learn?" she asked.

"I started late," he said, "I was 14. But it's never too early to teach a child about music." he looked to Elizabeth, "Perhaps she'll be a musician! Or perhaps she'll follow in your footsteps."

Elizabeth as a physicist? Rosalind could pave the way if that was what the child wanted. But Rosalind was certain that it wasn't, "She's not yet two, I suppose we'll see when she gets older." Rosalind said, "Right now she enjoys chewing on things."

"In the back of her mouth, hmm?" Albert said thoughtfully, "I know a cousin who did the same, he was growing the last of his teeth.”

"Still?" she had assumed Elizabeth had all of her teeth. She didn't seem to be in any pain.

"Every kid is different, but most aren't done until they are two years old." Albert seemed proud that he was able to impart this knowledge to her. It wasn't often that people knew something that she didn't. "Shall we?" he asked as he took the record back.

"Yes." she nodded and followed him to the register.

"I can find more if this works for you." Albert said, "Perhaps I could even compose something to help her get to bed."

“Thank you, I'll see how well this works first.” she bid them goodbye and pushed Elizabeth out of the store. The sun had already begun to set as she made her way back to her home. The sunset a lot faster in Columbia. Perhaps because of their position in the sky. She wasn’t sure what it was, but the days seemed shorter.

Rosalind made it home just before the sun completely disappeared and sighed in relief as she smelled the dinner Robert was cooking. Since they started cooking every day, she found that Robert was the better cook despite the fact he claimed to have never cooked before coming to Columbia. Perhaps it was the presence of her memories that gave him the skill.

"Out!" Elizabeth bounced happily and held up her arms. Rosalind removed her other shoe before letting her loose in the living room. "Robbie!" she yelled as she rushed towards the kitchen.

Rosalind locked the door and parked the pram in the lobby before following her into the kitchen. Robert had placed her in her highchair and he sat beside her, nodding intently at the story she was telling. Elizabeth knew 26 words now but she still was not able to string them into complete sentences. At least that’s what Robert claimed.

Rosalind could still barely understand Elizabeth but Robert seemed to be keeping track of her language development.

"I'm assuming you had a good time?" Robert asked her as she finally stopped to breathe.

"She chewed on her shoes the entire time." Rosalind sat down on the empty stool next to him and noticed he didn't look any better. "Are you having a spell?" she asked quietly.

"No." he shook his head quickly, "Nothing of the sort."

Perhaps he needed to rest. Now that they were splitting the work evenly, it seemed that it was beginning to be too much for him. "Hungry?" Elizabeth asked.

"Dinner isn't ready yet," he said.

"I'll finish dinner." Rosalind decided, "Why don't you take a nap?"

"No." Elizabeth shook her head.

"Not you." Robert smiled as he stood, "Do wake me when it's done." He gave Elizabeth a pat on the head as he walked by her. Rosalind was once again left alone with Elizabeth. She wasn't sure how to interact with her now. Even the young girl waited for her to make some sort of decision.

Rosalind stood and peaked into the oven at the roast. She wasn't sure why he had chosen such a lengthy meal to prepare, "I think it'll be done by 4." she said.

"4," Elizabeth repeated.

Robert would have most likely kept Elizabeth occupied but Rosalind wasn’t sure how. She was growing weary herself but Elizabeth seemed wide awake despite not having a nap.

On the table was one of Elizabeth's small bowls. Robert had placed mashed potato inside and Rosalind gave them to Elizabeth. "I believe he's sick." Rosalind said absently, "Perhaps a cold." As she thought more about it, the signs became clear. Even early that morning he had been sniffling and coughing. His weariness was most likely from pushing himself all day. 

"Robbie sick." Elizabeth nodded. She ignored the spoon and reached into the bowl with her hands. She ate directly from her hands and licked what remained off of her fingers. She then wiped her hands on her dress before reaching back into the bowl.

"Perhaps you made him sick." Rosalind wrinkled her nose. Elizabeth was very messy when she ate. As far as children went, Rosalind would never know how Elizabeth lined up. Was her behavior normal? Or was she just bad at teaching? What she did know was that Elizabeth apparently needed to taste everything. She nibbled on the couch cushions, the tables, her shoes, Robert's pocket watch, pens, pencils, paintbrushes, and even Rosalind's hairbrush. Nothing was safe from her curious taste buds. It was a wonder she herself wasn't sick.

"No." Elizabeth shook her head and dropped a handful of potato onto the floor. The rest ended up smeared all over the chair. Was it possible for her to eat what she was given? Was she supposed to feed her forever?

"Let's get you clean." she lifted Elizabeth from the highchair. She could clean her up and they would stay in the study until it was time for dinner.


	15. July 7th, 1894

July 7th, 1894

Elizabeth’s quiet whimpers brought her out of her sleep. Rosalind was used to Elizabeth sleeping through the night and the sight of her sitting up in her crib was strange. She didn’t need the lights to know that something was wrong.

From what little she could see of Elizabeth, she could tell that she was uncomfortable, “What’s the matter?” Rosalind asked quietly.

“Rosie…” she sniffed. Rosalind sighed and sat up. Perhaps it was a nightmare. Did children her age have nightmares? Or maybe she had seen something through a tear and was afraid of that. “Rosie?” Elizabeth called out quietly.

Rosalind turned on the light and got out of bed, “Having a nightmare?” she asked as she approached the crib, “Oh…” she saw that Elizabeth had vomited in the crib. Was she sick?

It was always hard to tell with Elizabeth. Sometimes she drank too fast and she threw up her milk. If Robert gave her too much candy, she would throw up. If she cried too much, she would throw up. Rosalind had a feeling that this was different. She had eaten hours ago and she had not had any candy at all that day.

Elizabeth whined and Rosalind sighed, “Let’s get a drink.” she picked up Elizabeth and noticed how warm she was. She placed her hand against the child's forehead and frowned, “You have a fever…” Not only that but she was extremely pale.

Elizabeth grabbed onto Rosalind’s gown and whined again. It seemed as if she would not get any work done that day. She knew nothing about caring for a sick child so it was likely that Robert knew even less.

Rosalind took Elizabeth down to the kitchen and set her down in the highchair. Elizabeth protested weakly as she rested her head against the small table. The entire display made Rosalind worry even more. Where was the loud child she had come to know?

“I’ll allow just a small amount of honey,” Rosalind said. Maybe sugar was what she needed to be herself again. She had not had any yesterday because Robert had gone to bed early.

She quickly heated the milk and added a small amount of honey. She wasn’t entirely sure if it was a good idea but she tried it anyway.

She took it back to Elizabeth and nudged her slightly, “Come on,” she said, “Get up and have a drink.”

Elizabeth sat up and rubbed her eyes. She stared at the small cup of milk before looking up at Rosalind. Usually, she would snatch the cup and start drinking. They still had not found a way to calm her down when it came to milk. “Elizabeth, you barely ate. Surely, you’re hungry.” Rosalind said.

Rosalind set the cup down and picked Elizabeth up, “Try to have a little.” she said gently. She picked up the glass of milk and carried them both to the drawing-room.

She sat down and attempted to give Elizabeth the milk. The child pushed it away and whined loudly. “You have to eat something.” Elizabeth had only had the bowl of potatoes yesterday because she had refused to eat anything else.

She shivered and buried her face in Rosalind’s chest. It took several minutes of coaxing before Rosalind convinced her to drink some of the milk. She only took one small sip before she threw it all back up.

She began to cry and Rosalind set the cup down on the floor, “Shhh.” she tried to calm her down but Elizabeth only cried louder.

“What’s going on?” Robert came down the stairs.

“I think she’s sick.” Rosalind turned to him, “She’s thrown up twice and she won’t drink her milk.”

“Do you think a bath would help?” Robert coughed and Rosalind narrowed her eyes,

“It would help to keep her clean,” she said. Robert actually looked far worse than he had the day before. He was just as pale as Elizabeth was and the dark circles under his eyes had grown despite how much sleep he’d gotten.

“I’ll start a bath then.”

“How are you feeling?” Rosalind asked once Elizabeth had calmed down. Robert ignored her as he walked back up the stairs.

She followed him up the bathroom and sighed, “Robert.”

“I’m fine.” he said, “I’m feeling much better now.”

“Perhaps you should rest today,” she suggested, “You won’t get any better if you overdo it.”

“I’d hardly call running a bath overdoing it.” Robert rolled his eyes. A telltale sign that he was still sick was how irritated he would get with her.

“That’s not what I meant.” she sighed. She would leave him alone today and focus on Elizabeth. Hopefully, he would stay in bed and mope instead of running around and making himself worse. “Not too hot, We want to lower her temperature.”

“Are we going to dip her in ice water?” Robert asked.

“Obviously not, Robert.” she said, “I only meant that the water shouldn’t be too warm.” Was his illness affecting his ability to think rationally? Why did he always act like a child when he was sick? “I can handle it, you should go to bed.”

“I’m not incapable of doing small tasks.” he said, “You act as if you’ve never had a cold before.”

“And you act as if I’ve done something wrong by suggesting you go back to bed at 4 in the morning,” she said.

Robert only glared at her as he tested the water temperature with his hand, “It’s not too warm and not too cold.” he said. Rosalind placed Elizabeth on the ground and ignored her whining as she undressed her.

“Stop that, we’re just giving you a bath.” Rosalind said, “Please get her something to where.” Robert looked as if he wanted to argue but he left instead. She could not deal with his attitude all day, it was already getting on her nerves.

She felt the water again before placing Elizabeth in the tub

“No!” Elizabeth kicked her legs ad held her arms up. She usually loved her baths…

Rosalind cleaned her quickly and finished just as Robert returned with a towel and diaper, “I cleaned the mess in her crib.” he said.

“Mess?” Elizabeth mumbled.

“Yes, you made a mess this morning.” Rosalind reminded. She took Elizabeth from the tub and dried her off. Elizabeth attempted to climb into her arms but Rosalind held her back. She may have been clean now but Rosalind still had a bit of vomit on her own gown, “I don’t want you to get dirty again.” she said as Elizabeth started to cry.

“I’ve got it.” Robert sighed and picked her up. Elizabeth’s crying grew louder and Rosalind went back to her room to change. “She’s miserable,” Robert said from her doorway.

“She’s sick and she barely ate yesterday.” Rosalind should have assumed something was wrong then. While Elizabeth hardly ever ate a full meal, she was constantly asking for food. The child had turned down almost everything she was offered.

Rosalind went down to the living room and grabbed the glass of milk. She returned quickly and motioned for Robert to follow her into her room. "She'll just throw it up again," Robert said.

"She isn't wearing anything but a diaper," Rosalind sat down on the bed, "Clean up will be easy if she does." Robert didn't seem convinced and she rolled her eyes, "Just give her to me, she has to eat or she won't get better."

Robert cleared his throat, “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“What?”

“You’re the only one who isn’t sick, I think I should take care of her,” he said.

“I thought you said you weren’t sick anymore.” Rosalind said, “Just give her to me.” Robert handed Elizabeth over and the girl calmed immediately, "You don't need to worry about me."

Rosalind attempted to feed her again but she pushed the glass away, “Did I make her sick?” Robert asked suddenly.

“Hmm?” Rosalind looked at him and shook her head, “I don’t think so.” Elizabeth’s sickness had come so suddenly that Rosalind was sure that she was sick before Robert. It was likely that Elizabeth had made Robert sick somehow but Rosalind would never be sure.

“We should call the physician,” Robert suggested.

“No one’s open yet,” Rosalind said

“So we shouldn’t do anything?” Robert was growing angry again

“What can we do besides care for her? If you ring his office, no one will answer. We have to wait until they open.” Rosalind said, “Until then, we make her comfortable and try to get her back to sleep.” Rosalind was certain that she could do that on her own. Robert was doing nothing but irritating her at this point.

“I’ll find one,” he said. Robert left the room and Rosalind shook her head. She didn’t know how much energy he had but she knew he would push himself until he was bedridden. She couldn’t remember if she had ever done anything like it but it seemed possible.

She placed Elizabeth on the bed and sat down beside her. Elizabeth crawled into her lap and Rosalind sighed, “I can’t hold you all day.” she said, “Robert will find a doctor and you’ll be fine.” She wasn’t sure if she was saying that to Elizabeth or herself.

“I found a doctor,” Robert said as he returned

“Already?” Rosalind didn’t take her eyes from Elizabeth.

“He’ll be here as soon as the gondolas are running.” Robert walked over to her and she finally looked at him. He still looked horrible. The half-hour he had been awake had done him no favors.

“We should have him examine you too,” Rosalind said.

“I’m fine.” Robert shook his head, “I can handle myself. We just need to focus on Elizabeth.”

“She’s comfortable for now.” Rosalind gently rubbed her back, “You can rest, I’ll sit with her until he gets here.”

“No-"

“Go.” she snapped, “If you actually want to help, you need to rest. You’re getting sicker by the second and I can’t take care f both of you.”

“I didn’t ask you to.” Robert crossed his arms, “I’m an adult and I can care for myself."

“Then do that.” Rosalind said, “But I will not be dealing with your miserable attitude. You know you’re only getting worse as the day goes by.”

"When that time comes, I'll be fully equipped to care for myself. Until then, I'll stay here." Robert sat down in her chair. If he was going to act like this, it would be a long day.

0.o.0.o.0

The doorbell rang and Rosalind jerked awake. Elizabeth was still asleep and Rosalind looked towards Robert. He had fallen asleep in the chair as well. “Robert,” she called

“Hmm?" he stirred slightly.

“The door.” It must have been the doctor.

“I’ll get it.” he didn’t move and Rosalind sighed. The doorbell rang again and she stepped out of bed. She gent;y placed Elizabeth down on the bed and rushed down to the lobby. She didn’t care that she looked terrible.

“Madame Lutece,” the man at the door smiled, “I’m Dr. Andrews, your brother called me.”

“Thank you for coming.” Rosalind stepped aside and let him inside. She was suddenly aware of the mess in the drawing-room and kitchen. She had not cleaned up after Elizabeth had made a mess the day before, “Excuse the mess.” she said sheepishly, “I’ve had my hands full.”

“Mhmm.” Dr. Andrews followed her up the stairs and to the bathroom. Thankfully Robert had gotten up and was waiting outside for them, “Mister Lutece,” Dr. Andrews nodded, “May I?”

“It’s not my room,” Robert mumbled.

Rosalind resisted the urge to roll her eyes, “Robert, you’re blocking the door.” she pointed out.

“Ah, yes.” Robert stepped aside and let Dr. Andrews into the room.

“How long has she been like this?”

“She was like this when I woke up.” Rosalind said, “She’s been coughing and shivering for the past hour. She won’t eat and she’s thrown up twice so far.”

Elizabeth was awake now but she was calm. She looked over at Rosalind with a questioning glance before settling her eye son Dr. Andrew. “If you’ll leave me be, I can do the exam.”

“I’ll stay right here,” Rosalind said firmly. Dr. Andrews did not argue and instead started his exam. Rosalind watched as he pressed down on Elizabeth's belly. She squirmed and wailed as he did so but he acted as if he didn't hear her. Rosalind watched the full examination and wondered how he was going to diagnose her when all he had managed to do was make her uncomfortable.

Dr. Andrews took Elizabeth's face and held it firmly as he stared into her mouth. "Hmm." he frowned. What did that mean? was that bad? What had he found?

“I need to listen to her lungs,” he let go of her face, “Perhaps you could help me? I won’t be able to get a clear sound while she’s crying.”

Rosalind sat down on the bed and pulled Elizabeth onto her lap. It felt strange to comfort her while someone other than Robert was watching. She had barely been seen out with Elizabeth and she did not like strangers witnessing this at all. “Alright, enough crying,” she said quietly. Elizabeth hiccuped and calmed slightly, “I know, you’re uncomfortable.”

Would the doctor judge her if she couldn’t get Elizabeth to calm down quickly? It took a few minutes but Elizabeth did eventually stop crying. Dr. Andrews pressed his stethoscope against her back. Rosalind wondered what it was he was listening for. He moved it to several spots before placing it on her chest.

Rosalind looked up at Robert. He was still lingering in the doorway but he was watching closely. He looked very concerned and confused. Neither of them knew anything about medicine.

“And she has a fever.” Dr. Andrews said.

“Is she okay?” Rosalind asked.

“Perhaps in a day or two. Things could go either way at this point.” Dr. Andrews said, “But for now she has a fever. Her throat is red and I can see mucus in the back too. That's why she coughs when she lays down, it's irritating her throat and her body is trying to expel it. Her bowels are very active, if she doesn't already, she'll probably have diarrhea. Her pulse is strong and her lungs are clear. She's doing fine fighting off this sickness.”

“But when will she get better?”

“I can’t give you an exact timeline, Madame.” Dr. Andrews said, “She’s a new patient to me and I don’t know how well her immune system is. It would have been helpful if you were bringing her in for checkups but it can’t be helped.”

She hadn’t realized that she was supposed to do that. Why would they see a doctor if she wasn’t sick? Could this have been prevented if she had taken her in to be seen?

Dr. Andrews and Robert both went out into the hall and Rosalind focused on Elizabeth. “Start her with water. Milk might be too thick for her.” Dr. Andrews said, “Once she can hold down water, give her milk, then bread, then fruits. I can prescribe something to help with her symptoms but this is really a waiting game.”

A waiting game… She did not want to play games when it came to Elizabeth’s life. Maybe they needed to call another doctor and get a different opinion. Someone had to know how to make her better.

“The apothecary will be in at 8 but I imagine the young miss will be fine until then. Madame Lutece will probably hold her all day but that normal. Mothers are usually protective over their children, especially first-time mothers.” Rosalind did not like that they were speaking about her. She wanted to remind the doctor that she was not Elizabeth’s mother but she decided against it. There were more important things to worry about.

Robert closed the door and she heard them talking about payment as they moved away from the door.

“You’ll be okay,” she whispered. Elizabeth was no longer speaking. She alternated between whining and whimpering and Rosalind didn’t like it.

She had finally put Elizabeth to sleep when Robert returned, “I’ll pick up the medicine when the shop opens.” he said. Rosalind placed Elizabeth in her crib before turning to him.

“Did you talk to him about your illness?” she asked.

“No…” he looked down at Elizabeth, “It slipped my mind.” Rosalind frowned and went back to her bed, “I’m not as sick as she is.”

“I know.” she said, “But I’m still worried about you both. What if he’s wrong?”

"I suppose..." he paused, "There's always that possibility." How helpful... "But you know better, you can't dwell on that."

"She's not like you..." Rosalind shook her head. Robert had survived the impossible and even though he still scared her when he bled, she knew he would be fine. Elizabeth was just a baby. She couldn't care for herself at all and if she took a turn for the worse... There was nothing that they could do to change that.

“This isn’t the same.” Robert reminded, “She’s only sick

“HE said it could go either way at this point.” Rosalind could only think of the many ways that things could go wrong.

“I don’t think we have anything to worry about.” Robert pulled her into a hug, “She’ll be better again in no time. Give it a day or two and she’ll be running around the music room again.”

As usual, Robert's endless optimism was needed. He was a great contrast to her own negative thoughts and she needed him to calm her thoughts. “I’m going to go back to bed,” she said.

“I’ll stay up a little longer.” he said, “Let me know if you need anything.” Robert let her go and gave Elizabeth one final glance before he left. Rosalind watched the rise and fall of Elizabeth’s chest before returning to her own bed. Elizabeth would be a handful when she awoke so it was best to get rest while she could. The next few days would be busy but Rosalind was sure that she could get through it if she had Robert’s help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading :)


	16. July 10th-July12th, 1894

July 10th, 1894

The screaming of the kettle jerked Rosalind out of her sleep. She blinked and looked over at the stovetop.

She moved the kettle from the flames and sighed deeply. She wasn’t even sure if she should bother making it anymore. Her exhaustion ran deep and she wasn’t sure if she would ever be fully rested again. At least she wouldn't be while both Robert and Elizabeth were sick.

She turned away from the kettle and sighed as her eyes landed on the newspaper article on the kitchen island. The headline had filled her with anger but there was nothing she could do about it now.

 **ROBERT AND ELIZABETH LUTECE STRUCK WITH UNKNOWN ILLNESS!** While Dr. Andrews had been helpful, he hadn’t found it necessary to keep the issue secret. She could imagine that he went and told anyone he could that Robert had fallen ill again. They now painted a narrative that Robert was a sickly man who would never be healthy. The article reminded the readers that this would be the second time that he had fallen ill in the past year.

Rosalind was sure that other people were sick but apparently, that was not news. Rosalind regretted calling Dr. Andrews a second time but it was in the past now.

Robert had rapidly grown sick the day that Dr. Andrews had examined Elizabeth. He’d gone from moping about to being bedridden in less than 5 hours.

While Rosalind was not surprised at all, she still hadn’t expected his disorientation. It was much like it had been when he’d first arrived. HE was barely coherent and his nose bled constantly. She had never once thought a simple ‘cold’ would cause him to revert back to this state.

Rosalind rubbed her eyes and began to prepare dinner. She had prepared full meals in the beginning but neither Robert nor Elizabeth would eat them. She had since only really made soup and it was not always likely that they would eat that either.

The only good thing to come out of Dr. Andrew’s betrayal was the amount of support from the people of Emporia. A few people had stopped by to leave flowers or sent a telegram expressing their empathy. 2 people had delivered full pots of soup and Rosalind was glad for it. She wasn’t sure if she could focus enough to cook anything.

“It’s chicken soup, my mother used to make it for me all the time.” one woman said. Rosalind wondered what that woman had expected from the encounter. Rosalind had thanked her but the woman seemed a little disappointed. Perhaps she’d wanted to be invited in for gossip? Rosalind would never know.

Once everything was heated, she prepared two trays. She would bring Robert his food first and then she would check on Elizabeth.

She carried the tray up the stairs and wondered if she would have a chance to rest at all before Elizabeth woke.

Robert was lying on his side just as he had been when she left him after lunch. The only difference now was the small amount of blood on his sheets. It didn’t surprise her that he had been bleeding again. “I have dinner,” she said.

She set the tray down on his nightstand and picked up the wet cloth she had used earlier. “You’ve soiled your sheets again.” she dabbed at his face lightly and he groaned in response.

Robert rolled away from her and she rolled her eyes, “I need to clean your face.” she said. He didn’t speak as she attempted to wipe his nose but the moment the towel touched him, he turned his face away again, “Robert,” she said firmly, “Let me wipe your face.”

He finally sat still as she cleaned him up and she sat down once she was finished. She watched him for a moment, taking in every subtle twitch of his mouth. “They missed you at the meeting.” Rosalind said, “The paper released a story about how you’ve fallen ill again. They interviewed Dr. Andrews.”

Robert didn’t respond but she had not expected him to. She was used to filling the silence on her own again.

“I have soup and bread again.” she said, “I didn’t make this so it might be a little better than usual.” Robert had managed to eat two small bites of bread the day before but she was feeling uncharacteristically optimistic today.

She shook him gently, “Come on, get up.”

“No.” he was awake at least.

“You’ll choke again if you eat lying down.” she moved to help him sit up, “It would be nice if you would sit up on your own.” She couldn’t be sure if Robert’s limp body was from the illness or if it was just him not wanting to move. Either way, she struggled to prop him up on his pillows.

She was absolutely spent by the time she managed to get him seated.

“I only painted one butterfly," he mumbled.

“Just the one?” she responded.

“It was red.”

“Red?” she tucked her hair behind her ear and picked up the bowl of soup. Robert opened his eyes and looked at her. His eyes were strangely bright and the contrast between them and his pale skin made her shiver, “You’re quite talkative today.” she said.

“Rosalind?”

“Yes?”

“Have you seen my paintbrush?”

“In the study, where you left them.”

“Hmm.” he nodded and slumped back. That was the most he’d said to her at once. Usually, none of his sentences had anything to do with the previous. Maybe he had been dreaming of painting.

She started with only broth. Robert managed to eat every spoonful, “How about some chicken?” she scooped up a small amount of chicken and fed it to him. To her delight, she chewed slowly and swallowed it.

She managed to feed him half of the bowl before he refused to eat more, “Robert,” she sighed, “You’re almost done.”

“I can’t eat anymore,” he said quietly.

“Fine.” she set the bowl down, “How about water?” she picked up the glass of water. She was aware that giving him so many liquids would lead to him soiling the bed again but he was dehydrated.

“I just had juice..."

“You had soup,” she said, “But you still need this.” he opened his eyes again and looked at the water. Despite how unsettling his unfocused gaze was, she was glad that he was a little more coherent today. His fever had not yet broken but this was still good.

“Rosalind…” he looked back at her, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she held the glass to his lips, “Just drink.” He drank a small amount before moving away from the glass, “I need to check on Elizabeth.” she said, “I’m going to leave this here.”

Robert closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath, “You’ll come back, won’t you?” he asked.

“Of course.” she nodded and stood, “Try to drink the water on your own.”

She crossed the hall into her own room. Elizabeth was still asleep and Rosalind didn’t want to wake her but she had to try to feed her again. Elizabeth had rejected most of the meals she had attempted today.

Rosalind picked her up and sighed as she whined loudly, “Don’t cry,” she said, “It’s only me.”

Elizabeth was doing far better than Robert was. She didn’t speak much but she hadn’t lost the ability to. She was still feverish and she spent most of her time either sleeping or crying.

Dr. Andrews had been right about her diarrhea. Rosalind changed her diaper constantly and in turn, she was doing laundry more often because of it. Cleaning both Robert’s clothes and Elizabeth’s diapers was time-consuming. It might have been easier for her to buy more but she could not leave them alone.

“You can eat soup, right?” she asked, “Someone named Marie made it for us.” Elizabeth liked it when she spoke to her. If Rosalind let the silence linger, she would start crying, “I haven’t had any just yet but Robert enjoyed it.”

“Mmmm.” Elizabeth yawned.

“You can tell me if it’s good.” she took Elizabeth down to the kitchen. Elizabeth gave no real response besides whining and labored breathing, “It’s not too hot, It’s been cooling for a while now.”

She sat down and looked down at Elizabeth, “Your hair is getting a little longer.”

Elizabeth’s hair now covered her eyes. Rosalind brushed the hair from her face, “Time for a hair cut.” she said. Or maybe she would tie her hair up with bows like her mother had, “You’d look cute with a blue bow.” or a white one. But she would not be able to keep that clean.

Rosalind held a spoonful of the soup to Elizabeth’s lips. Much like Robert, she tolerated the broth well. “Good girl.” Rosalind said quietly, “How about a carrot?” she gave Elizabeth one and sighed when she spit the carrot out, “You’re not even trying, are you?”

She used the spoon to cut the carrots into small pieces before trying again. The pieces were small enough and Elizabeth was able to swallow them without chewing. “See? You’ll be better in no time,” she said.

She had been telling Elizabeth that since the day she fell ill. Thankfully, she had not gotten worse but she hadn’t gotten better either.

Elizabeth still refused to sit by herself. Her teddy bears did nothing to comfort her and she would only sit down if Rosalind placed her on the floor. She could walk, Rosalind had seen it since she fell ill but she didn’t want to.

“Now,” Rosalind set the bowl aside, “How about we drink a glass of water?” If she could get Elizabeth to drink even half the glass, she could call it a victory.

She held the glass to Elizabeth’s lips and the child drank slowly, “Good.” Rosalind said, “Just a little more and we can go back to bed.”

It had been a busy day and she was exhausted. Still, they had both eaten dinner and they had both drank at least one glass of water. Robert would say that it meant things were looking up. Usually, Rosalind would disagree but she was feeling hopeful today. Perhaps if this behavior repeated in the morning, she could relax.

Putting Elizabeth to sleep was easy. The child had barely wanted to be awake anyway. After placing her on the bed, Rosalind went back to Robert’s room. “I’m going to lay you down now,” Rosalind said.

Robert was asleep again and didn’t off much help. When she had positioned for bed, she took the cloth and wiped the sweat from his forehead, “I’ll see you in the morning, brother.”

She left his door open and went back to her own room. She hoped that this ended soon, she couldn’t handle this for much longer.

0.o.0.o.0

July 11th, 1894

It was the first time in days that Robert felt well enough to sit up on his own. It was still quite a chore to do but despite his stiff muscles and pounding head, Robert managed to sit up in bed.

The first thing he noticed was how stuffy his room was. The door was open but there didn’t seem to be any airflow at all. He threw the blanket off of himself and looked down at his sheets. The multiple stains made him shiver, he knew exactly what it meant. He must have begun to bleed while he was sick…

That meant Rosalind had once again dropped everything to care for him and make sure that he didn’t perish. He looked to his arm to check for any marks, it didn’t look like she’d had to transfuse any of her blood again.

Robert stretched his arms above his head before deciding to find Rosalind. It took a lot of deep breathing before he was able to stand and when he did, he still felt entirely too weak. But he needed to find Rosalind and make sure she was doing alright.

He looked to his nightstand and saw what was left of his lunch. A bowl of cold broth and some bread. She had likely given up on feeding him anything of substance early on. From the looks of it, he had barely eaten the simple meal she’d prepared.

His shaky legs led him into the hallway. He could see Rosalind’s room was open but she was not on the bed. He had the idea to check on Elizabeth and walked towards the room. Had the little girl recovered at all?

Peering into the room, he saw her lying in the middle of Rosalind’s bed. She didn’t seem to be in any distress. He watched her until she let out a breath and rolled over onto her side. She was probably fine. Rosalind could tell her more.

He looked at the stairs and realized suddenly that this would be the hardest part of the journey. He had never thought much about their rooms being on the 3rd floor. The 2nd floor was filled with generators and wires. It had the library, the lab, and the “spare” room that was too much of a mess for anyone. The contraption had torn up the floor entirely and even being in that room gave Robert a headache. The lab was also a mess. Filled with chalkboards and scattered papers, Rosalind had not been in that room for months.

Robert held onto the railing as he slowly made his way down the steps. He didn’t understand how Rosalind had managed to pull him up 3 flights of stairs after he’d come through the tear. She seemed to be a lot stronger than he gave her credit for.

By the time he made it down the steps, he wondered if Rosalind was even home at all. The silence in the house was deafening. He was used to some type of noise. Elizabeth’s giggling or Rosalind recording her notes on a voxophone and if none of that was present, there was always the sound of a record being played. Now, there was nothing at all.

The door to the contraption was closed and Robert went into the drawing-room instead. Rosalind had pushed the sofa aside and used her chalkboards to form makeshift clotheslines. He looked at his soiled blouses and Elizabeth’s diapers and sighed, he had likely ruined most of his clothing again.

Robert examined the chalkboards and noticed that she had been keeping track of both his and Elizabeth’s symptoms over the last 4 days… HE had been asleep for 4 days?

According to the charts, she had dealt with a lot. Elizabeth’s vomiting and diarrhea and then his nose bleeds and delirium.

Robert looked away and finally made his way to the kitchen. He found Rosalind slumped over the kitchen island. She had been cutting vegetables it seemed. The knife she was using had fallen to the ground.

“Rosalind?” he touched her shoulder and she jerked awake, “Hey, it's just me.”

“Robert?” She blinked and sat up, “Are… Are you okay? How did you get down here?”

“I walked.” he said, “Very slowly, of course.”

She narrowed her eyes and frowned, “Do you know where you are?”

“The kitchen…” he answered slowly

“No, where are you?” Rosalind asked.

“Rosalind, I’m fine.” he smiled, “A little weak but I’m fine.” The chalkboard hadn’t mentioned any sleepwalking but that didn’t mean he hadn’t stumbled out of bed in his madness.

“You didn’t even know who I was this morning,” she said.

“I don’t remember much of it,” he admitted, “But I was looking for you.”

“You should be in bed,” she said finally. Her exhaustion was evident and he could see how much the past few days had taken their toll on her. From her messy hair to the stained blouse, she had not been taking care of herself at all. She tucked the loose strands behind her ear and cleared her throat, “Robert?”

“Sorry,” he looked away, “I need something to drink.” And something to eat as well but he would worry about that later, “How’s Elizabeth?”

He moved to the other side of the kitchen. It was apparent that Rosalind had not cleaned a single dish in the past 4 days. Robert looked among the pile of bowls and dirty pots. It did not smell nice at all but he was sure Rosalind was aware of that.

He found a clean glass and went to the sink. His hands were shaky and as the glass filled with water, he realized exactly how weak he was. He would have to get back in bed soon if he wanted to avoid collapsing. “Rosalind?” he looked back at her.

“Her fever broke this morning,” Rosalind said, “But her other symptoms are still present. She’s still sick.”

“One step at a time,” he said as he sipped the water, “She’s out of the woods now, right?”

“Right.” Rosalind agreed, “Have a seat please.”

Robert took a seat and set the glass down, “You don’t have to worry, I’ll go back to bed in a moment. I just needed to see you.”

Rosalind nodded and retrieved the knife from the floor, “You should spend the rest of the day in bed.”

He probably wouldn’t be able to roam the house even if he wanted to. He was exhausted and he knew he had pushed his limits by coming down there at all. “How have you been sleeping?” A better question would have been, ‘ _Have you been sleeping?_ ’

Rosalind’s dazed expression was evidence enough that she hadn’t. She looked at the celery shrugged, “Elizabeth seems to wait until I sleep to wake and cry.” she said, “And whenever she would cry, you would start bleeding heavily.”

“Every time?” Robert asked. Rosalind nodded and

“I’ll bring you the soup once I finish.” she said, “Since you’ve so much energy today, I expect you to eat all of it. Not just the broth.”

“Of course.” he smiled, “I can eat down here. You don’t need to bring it to me.”

“You’ll stay in bed today.” Rosalind said sternly, “You know you don’t have the energy to walk around like this and you’ll only get sicker if you push yourself. You haven’t eaten a full meal in 4 days, I’ll give you a snack to hold you over until dinner is ready. Do you want tea as well?”

“I…” he sighed, “I don’t want you overworking yourself like this.” He could make his own tea if that meant she would rest even a little.

“You think I’m overreacting.” Rosalind frowned.

“I don’t.” he assured, “But understand that I’m not in your shoes. I have no idea what you’ve been through, all I know is that you look exhausted. It would not be fair to allow you to push yourself to the point of sickness.”

“That’s right, you don’t understand.” she took a deep breath, “You’ve been having headaches and nosebleeds. I’ve gone through every spare sheet and blouse that we own. You have nightmares and you couldn’t even hold up a conversation. I thought… You know what I thought. Your fever lasted 3 days and you couldn’t even sit up without help. Do you understand now? One day you were up and walking like you are now and the next day…”

“I…” he didn’t know what to say. His sister usually worried a lot and he had always thought it was unnecessary but… Well if he had been in her shoes he would have been deathly afraid of what was happening.

“So yes, I am pushing myself.” Rosalind agreed, “But nothing bad will happen to me if I do. You, however, need to rest before we have to start back at step one.”

“I’ll rest.” he agreed. He finished his water and sighed, “I’ve come back from much worse, you know that.”

“I know.” Rosalind picked up his glass and added it to the pile of dishes, “Do you want fruit? I have a few apples left.”

“Rosalind...”

“I suppose since there’s no risk of you choking in your sleep, I can go to the market.” She always tried to change the subject when she revealed too much of her feelings, “Here, I’ll slice them for you and you can take them back up to your room.”

He was not excited to return to the stuffy room but he would only stress her out more if he didn’t go.

“How about you join me for dinner then?” he suggested.

“Fine, Elizabeth and I will both join you.” she said, “I can bring you a few books from the library if you’d like.”

“I’ll grab my own on the way back,” Robert said. He saw her roll her eyes and chuckled, “Don’t be that way, I can manage a few books.” But then again, it had taken him far too long to even get down to the kitchen. He probably couldn’t hold several books and whatever tray Rosalind was going to give him.

“Would you like tea as well?” She asked.

“Yes, please.” he said, “Why can’t I stay down here with you?” Sitting in one spot would have the same effect as sitting in his bed would.

“Why would you want to?” she asked.

“I missed you.” he said, “Isn’t that enough of a reason?” While it was the biggest reason, he didn’t want to tell her that he was worried about the journey back up the steps.

“I suppose it is.” Rosalind said, “But as you can see, this isn’t the best place to relax. You’d be much more comfortable in your bed.”

“It’s hot in there,” he said. Rosalind retrieved a new knife and cut the apples quickly. Despite how tired she was, she still managed to prepare the tea and fruit for him quickly.

“I won’t be down here after I finish this.” Rosalind gestured to the vegetables, “I’ll join you for dinner.” She pushed the tray towards him and frowned, “Do you need me to carry it?”

Robert swallowed as he looked at the tea on the tray. A mess would be made if he even tilted the tray slightly, “Yes.” he admitted with a sigh.

“I’ll put it in your room then,” she said, “Have some more water.”

In the end, he made it upstairs slowly. Rosalind did not watch as he made his way up the stairs but she did arrive with his food as soon as he had happened to make it to his bed, “I’ll have to check on Elizabeth soon but I won’t make you sit alone all day. I have much to tell you anyway.” she said. 

“I’ll look forward to it,” Robert said with a smile. Just for today, he would take it easy. It wouldn’t hurt him and Rosalind would be able to relax just a little now that she only really had to worry about Elizabeth.

0.o.0.o.0

July 12th, 1894

This morning was completely different and it would be a lie to say that she wasn’t glad for it. She didn’t wake to the same uncomfortable silence. Instead, she woke to the faint sound of a record playing in the music room.

Robert was out of bed again and she sighed softly to herself. There didn’t seem to be anything she could do to keep him in bed.

She got out of the bed and went out into the hall. “What are you doing?” she asked.

Robert stood in the hall with all of his bedding, “Laundry.” he said, “How did you sleep?”

His recovery was coming just as quickly as his sickness had. She knew that she needed to trust him when it came to his own health but her nerves always overcame any rational thought. “I slept fine.” she said, “Elizabeth actually slept through the night.”

“One step at a time,” Robert repeated his statement from the day before, “Why don’t we stay in the music room today? I think Elizabeth would like to stretch her legs.”

“I’m not keeping Elizabeth from running about.” Rosalind pointed out, “She doesn’t want to move.” In fact, Elizabeth preferred to sit as close to Rosalind as possible.

“I think she will today.” Robert said, “I can feel it.”

“I think I should call the doctor one more time,” she said. Dr. Andrews would probably be annoyed that she was calling again and she was not sure if she wanted him to see the state of their home. She didn’t want the press to find out that she had let their home fall into total disarray.

“We can,” Robert agreed, “I can book an appointment and we can take her tomorrow.”

“Take her?”

“Yes, I’m well enough to leave this place now.” Robert adjusted the blankets in his arms. That was when Rosalind noticed that he was fully dressed.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Just to the market.” he said, “I’m going to cook dinner tonight. I’m sure a healthy meal will help Elizabeth recover.” Was it possible that they had remained sick for so long because she hadn’t given them a proper meal? The soup was all They could stomach at first but maybe she should have forced them to eat something else.

“I can go.” Rosalind said, “You should rest.”

“Please,” Robert sighed, “I’m fine. I’m not feeling weak, I’m not having a headache, and my nosebleeds stopped yesterday.” He was restless already and she couldn’t blame him. She hadn’t let him out of his room at all yesterday, “Now I’m only making a short trip to the market, absolutely nothing bad will happen.”

“Robert, there’s so much that can go wrong-”

“Like what?”

“Like… What does it matter?” She asked. Just because she couldn’t think of anything right now, didn’t mean that there was no risk.

“It matters because there are things that need to be done.” Robert said, “There’s nothing left to eat here. You’ve gone through everything. We’re out of tea as well. I’ll get your favorite kind, don’t worry.”

Rosalind nodded and sighed. It was an issue that she knew she would have to face eventually. They hadn’t completed their shopping the day Robert had gotten sick. Once they had selected what they needed for dinner, Robert had left. “Fine then, please don’t stay out too long,” she said.

In her younger days, she had always done just the opposite just to spite her mother. She wondered if Robert would do the same thing. She doubted that he was truly cross with her but she would admit that she was being slightly overbearing.

“I won’t,” Robert said, “Now, dear sister, would you like anything from the market? Perhaps, a few biscuits or another tin of candy?”

He smiled and started walking towards the steps, “Come right back.” she said.

“I’m feeling really pale today, I might stay out by the fountain and let the sun do its work,” he said.

“You’ll burn,” she sighed, “But perhaps that would teach you a lesson.”

“You should go back to sleep,” Robert stopped at the top of the stairs, “Get some rest while you can, I’ll wake you for breakfast.”

Rosalind reluctantly agreed and went back into her room. There was nothing to worry about but she still felt as if everything would go wrong again.

~0~0~0~

Rosalind felt Elizabeth’s hands on her face when she awoke but she didn’t move. Elizabeth had been waking in tears for the past few nights. She was reluctant to admit it but she missed the feeling. Elizabeth had always woken her up this way before they moved her to the crib.

She finally opened her eyes and was face to face with Elizabeth. The child smiled and Rosalind found herself smiling back, “Good morning.” she said.

The relief that filled her once she saw Elizabeth’s smile was unexpected. She was incredibly lucky that things had not gone the other way. She remembered her mother telling her of the children who had died young. She had called them unlucky and said that it was a good thing that she couldn’t have any more children.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Rosalind said. Elizabeth rolled onto her back and began to babble again. Rosalind wasn’t sure what Elizabeth could have possibly been saying, she hadn’t done much recently but Rosalind listened anyway.

Elizabeth gasped and rolled back to her, “Robbie?” had she only just realized that she had not seen him in almost a week?

“He went to the store, he should be making breakfast soon,” she said. There was a knock on her door and she sat up, “Come in.”

The door opened and Robert poked his head into the room, “You’re finally awake.” he said.

“Robbie!” Elizabeth held her arms up and Robert came into the room.

“How was your trip?” Rosalind asked.

“It was great.” Robert picked Elizabeth up, “I made breakfast but I couldn’t wake you. But lunch is ready.”

“I slept through breakfast?” she mumbled.

“Like a rock,” Robert said.

“Hm.” Rosalind sat back and watched as Robert and Elizabeth spoke to each other, or as Robert spoke and Elizabeth laughed. It had been too easy to take it all for granted. She felt guilty for every argument she’d had with Robert about Elizabeth. Looking at them now, she could see how happy the child made him.

“I already placed our lunch in the music room,” Robert said, “Are you awake enough to join us?”

“Just let me get changed,” she said.

“Take your time, the lunch is already cold and I still have to make the tea,” he said. He took Elizabeth with him as he left the room. Rosalind bathed and changed her clothes quickly.

She met Robert in the music room and sat down on the couch, “There you are, I was starting to think you fell asleep again.” Robert said.

“I might have,” she yawned, “I’m still tired.”

“Understandable.” Robert said, “I still haven’t prepared the tea, I was a little distracted.”

“I’ll get it.” she stood quickly, “I’ll fall asleep if I sit for too long.” She was out of the room before Robert could protest. He likely wanted to make sure she did nothing at all today but she was not one to be idle for too long.

She made it down to the drawing-room and noticed that everything was spotless. The laundry had been put away and the chalkboards had been moved out of the room. Clearly, he had been busy while she was asleep.

Rosalind walked to the kitchen and saw that he had cleaned this area as well. The cluttered countertops were now organized and the pile of dirty dishes had been cleaned and put away.

On the counter, she would see that Robert had begun to write thank you letters to everyone who had sent them gifts while he was sick. They were all the same and bore the signature of R. Lutece. No one would know which one of them actually sent it since their signatures were exactly alike.

Next to it all was a large bouquet of flowers. Yellow tulips. Had someone sent another gift? She still had all the other flowers in the lobby. She wasn’t sure what to do with them all.

She picked up the card attached and read the note, “Thank you for all that you do… R. Lutece.”

So they were from Robert then. She smiled softly and touched the petals. He didn’t have to buy her gifts like this. If he fell sick again, she would gladly nurse him back to health as she had the last 2 times.

She looked towards the sink and saw that the tray of tea had already been prepared. Robert had most likely wanted her to see the flowers.

She returned with the tray of tea to see both Robert and Elizabeth on the floor looking through one of Robert's sketchbooks. Elizabeth seemed to be interested in what he was saying but Rosalind could bet she held the same expression when being told about advanced physics. Maybe she just liked to hear their voices.

“Sorry,” she said, “I was distracted.”

“That’s alright,” Robert said with a smile, “Care to sit with us?”

“On the floor?” Rosalind set the tray down on the table.

“It’s quite comfortable,” Robert said.

Rosalind sat down beside them and listened as Robert explained his drawings to Elizabeth, “This one was something I thought about before I met Rosalind.” he said.

She had only closed her eyes for a moment but when she opened them again, she was on the couch. Robert was at the piano letting Elizabeth press the keys, “Do you think anyone ever sang to her?” Robert turned back at her.

“It’s doubtful,” Rosalind said. How did he know she was awake again?

“Hmm?” Robert looked away, “Perhaps when you’re more awake, you could sing her a song. I’d do it myself but well… Your voice is far more pleasant than mine.”

“Nonsense.” she closed her eyes again.

“How about you eat your lunch?” Robert suggested, “Or have a sip of tea.”

She didn’t feel sick, just tired. Despite Elizabeth’s laughing and the sound of the piano, Rosalind found herself falling asleep once more.

When she awoke again she realized that she had spent the entire day sleeping. She could see Robert gently placing Elizabeth in her crib. “Robert?” she said quietly

“Yes?” he looked at her.

“Goodnight,” she said quietly.

“Sleep well, sweet sister,” he said quietly. He planted a kiss on her forehead before turning out the light and leaving her alone. Rosalind got of bed only to change into her nightgown. She looked at Elizabeth in her crib and sighed. Things would only get better from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big chapter. The original draft was only 1,000 words so I don't know how it ended up being almost 6,000 words. I didn't want to split it up though so please enjoy. The next chapter is already written so there should be no delay and you should see a second update soon. :)


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